Sunday, October 27, 2013

Fascination In Life


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My first blog post was seven years ago . . . on October 7. Since then, I have posted 384 times, almost every week without fail. It surprises me to have been consistent . . . since I have posted throughout the seasons and from over twenty different countries.

At times, the challenge has been to find a topic to write about. When traveling, this is not a problem, but through the years, occasionally nothing comes up during the week, and then, I must be philosophical, or simply observe nature, the elements, and emotions.

I find fascination in life, and in my own life which has had it's share of ups and downs. I came from a big, complicated family, lived like a hippie early, became religious, went to art school, had a mental breakdown, traveled across the USA, settled in the southwest, started businesses, married three times, had children, been successful as an artist, had a child die, written books and magazine articles, sojourned around the world and taken 50,000 photographs . . . and kept a weekly blog going for seven years now . . . and counting. 

The archive is on this page.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

A Tinge Of Sad Feeling


There is something about the dying of summer bloom and leaves falling from trees—scurrying to oblivion in cold autumn wind. . . that brings a tinge of sad feeling. Oh, beautiful colors bring delight to the eyes, and often, after a cold night, the air warms to perfection, but there is no holding on; winter comes and with it cold death. 

The beauty to all this is renewal. We know that life comes back again in the spring and with it a new face of youth. And this is the stuff of poetry and art: the wheel of life, death, and resurrection. The eternal working of the Creator in His Cosmos.

Autumn Song
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1883)


Know’st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the heart feels a languid grief
   Laid on it for a covering,
   And how sleep seems a goodly thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

And how the swift beat of the brain
Falters because it is in vain,
   In Autumn at the fall of the leaf
   Knowest thou not? and how the chief
Of joys seems—not to suffer pain?

Know’st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the soul feels like a dried sheaf
   Bound up at length for harvesting,
   And how death seems a comely thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?

Sunday, October 13, 2013

An Urge


"Feeling The Pinch," oil on board, 12 x 16 inches, by Steven Boone
Sometimes an urge arises inside of me to shake things up—like an earthquake that rumbles forth and topples the established order of things. Only what is true and strong survives. This rumbling has been going on inside of me for years and is seen in my art; with its variations in style that often appear to not have correlations. Revolution keeps me on my toes and far from complacency. 

This weekend marks the beginning of a show I will share with another artist—Dirk Kortz. The exhibit is titled Twisted Portraits. We are both including portraits that have an oddness inherent in them. Something unsettled. It could be a grimacing face, or a hand reaching into the picture, smearing paint, or even a face dangling from a clothesline. I expect that these paintings won't sell easily . . . for they are disturbing. Life too is unsettling . . . and art must reflect life.

"Untitled," six 8 x 10 inch panels, oil on canvas, by Dirk Kortz

Sunday, October 06, 2013

A Remarkable Phenomenon

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The mountains above Santa Fe are called the Sangre De Cristos, or, “Blood Of Christ” mountains. They are covered with fir and pine trees, and large swaths of aspens, and rise to 12,000 feet, (3,658 meters). 

Each fall when the days grow shorter and colder, around the 1st of October, the aspens change color and turn golden. It is a remarkable phenomenon and draws crowds of people to hike in this wonderland. Every painting I have ever done of golden aspens has sold. 

There is something charming about the white paper-like trunks of aspens that grow close together, tall and straight, crowned with shimmering gold, splashing against the blue sky  . . . it is like a dream of heaven.