Sunday Sketches

Still focusing on the subject of trees...

Again here is the Lucuma tree in the background with the Nuqchu flower at its base. This is fuchsia-like flower which blooms year round in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

The Nuqchu is the main plant of the Earth Garden at Willa T'kia. Carol relates that the cascades of flowers portray abundance, not just material abundance but also love. Their powerful spirit is believed to bring love to the base chakra. You can find out more about native flowers of Peru and Carol's chakra gardens in her book, Chakra Gardens.

First painting is a watercolor and ink sketch.


This painting is an oil on 12" X 12" canvas.

Sunday Sketches

I have been on retreat this week........at home!

An idea that formulated over breakfast with a couple of my creative friends. Today ends our "seven day at home retreat." The basic rules were: to spend at least 3-4 hours a day creating and meet together one or more times during the week to process with a final session this evening.

I have six water-based oil paintings and three watercolor & ink sketches! What could I accomplish if I kept at this pace?!?!?

The Lucuma tree which I first saw at Willa T'ika in the Sacred Valley of Peru was the inspiration of the first paintings.

This watercolor and ink sketch shows the branches, leaves, and fruit in the foreground with the shape of the bark in the background.


And the oil painting.....

Day Four

Still on retreat.......at home.

Spent most of the day painting with oils. Unfortunately, I am having challenges photographing these paintings as the paint causes glare. I tried to fix in photoshop, but still not quite right.

This first tree painting of a cedar outside my window is done on a canvas that I textured with with a palette knife and gesso. Needless to say, the textures make the painting. I will work at the photo issue.



The next painting you might recognize from earlier this week.
I added the fruit, leaves, and branches to the lucuma tree.




The three retreaters met last night to process our insights.
All goes well and work continues........

At Home Retreat

Going to retreats are inspiring and provide valuable new insights.

And can be costly!

Two friends and I came up with an "at home retreat" which began Monday and will last one full week. The basic rules: spending at least 3-4 hours a day creating and meet together two or possibly three times during the week to process.

I bought several canvases and gessoed over a few to prepare myself. Water-based oils has been a favorite medium as of late.

Trees will be the subject of this week's creations. The Lucuma tree which I first saw at Willa T'ika in the Sacred Valley of Peru has become the inspiration of the first paintings. This lovely tree is the dominating figure in Carol's landscape and gardens.


Oil painting to me is a "building up" process as oppose to watercolor which is immediate and spontaneous. So with that in mind, here are two renditions in oil of the Lucuma tree's bark and stage one of these paintings.




In addition to these paintings, I also did two ink and watercolor paintings which I will post at another time. I am on a roll!!!

Sunday Sketches

I just returned from incredible adventures in Peru and managed to create a few sketches along the way.

I spent several days at Willka T'ika Guesthouse in the Sacred Valley which is a charming and lovely place full of beautiful gardens, fabulous vegetarian food which was grown there, and filled with 18 wonderful women to share experiences.

I became very fond of the thousand-year-old Lucuma tree which called Carol, the inspiration behind Willka T'ika, to this piece of land for the setting of the guesthouse. As she explains, "In the crown chakra garden, a thousand-year-old lucuma tree connects guests to the energy and wisdom of the ancient Inkan civilization. The grassy area beneath the lucuma tree is a perfect place for meditation." The tree has these wonderful, bulbous appendices of bark. One evening for desert we were treated to a wonderful dish with the lucuma fruit......yum!

Here I am painting the first sketch of the Lucuma tree.


This is the first sketch.


I had to get closer to really capture the bark.


Here is that rendition of the Lucuma Tree.


And here is the beautiful tree.



I will be painting more of this tree!