Massive-Mini: I Am

I frequently trail run and paint in the The Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area, near Taos, NM. The energy expanded running with a pack full of painting materials along with the concentration of painting in the mountains, creates a focused meditation that is non-pareil. 

Yesterday, I completed a painting from a session near Wheeler Peak which is pictured below. Titled, "Massive-Mini Me, A Self-Portrait," (oil on board, 48 x 24) was started during an 18 mile trail run with full pack and completed in the studio after a month of drying time. I hope that I effectively conveyed the power and massiveness that these northern New Mexico mountains emit. I do indeed feel "mini" whenever I'm in the midst of these geological wonders filled with spiritual power. The related video can be viewed on my YouTube Channel.

"Massive-Mini Me, A Self-Portrait" Oil on board 48x24

Trail run photograph

This past September I was a presenter at the Taos Pecha Kucha event (video will be made available soon) where I spoke about the power and transformative nature of trail running and painting. We all know that regular strenuous exercise boosts brain functions but, I also found that by combining intense activity with painting, that the components required for me to create: passion and pragmatic thinking, became linked on a subconscious level. 

En route from trail head

Up to the Peak

The combination of all this trail running and painting has led me to a feeling as if color is exploding from the inside out, and has provided me with much peace and wellness.

Pueblo Bonito

Recently, I spent three days in the incredible and inspiring Chaco Canyon. There, I wondered at the architecture, roadways and pottery that the Puebloan peoples who lived there from 850 to 1250 A.D. created. It is an area not to be missed. With so much to see and experience, three days was not nearly enough time and I barely squeezed in a run and paint session to Pueblo Alto. 

On the ridge below Pueblo Alto looking south. With blocked-in painting

I will be posting a three-part blog series about my experiences at Chaco Canyon including how to pack for a camping, trail running and painting along with the finished painting. Until then, see you on the trails and in the studio.

Near La Cal Basin, San de Cristo Mountains, Taos, NM

Another incredible day up and on the mountains. Met some wonderful future leaders from the United World College (UWC) http://www.uwc.org I wish I had that opportunity when I was their age. Video and sketches of the 16 mile journey to follow tomorrow.

Quit Your Job - Do What You Love - Act II

Chicago to Taos Driving Route

After the excitement and hubbub of quitting my job passed, many folks claimed that there would be nothing to see between Iowa and Denver on I-70 or I-80 on the trip to NM. Our experience was just the opposite. Iowa and Nebraska are beautifully filled with gentle rolling plains, prairies, lakes, grasslands and endless crop farms. I was tempted many times to pullover, pull out my paints and frame the landscape, but we had a schedule to keep and there was little time to veer off course. 

On the schedule was: seeing farmer friends in NE, showing Terry my old Denver and Vail haunts and exploring southern Colorado. We did and it was a great road trip; I only lost my wedding ring once and fortunately I founds it on the picnic table where I left it. And only once did I think to myself that I might be crazy for giving up a steady paycheck. 

I could tell you all about the wonderful things we experienced like sitting in the driver's seat of a multi-million dollar farm machine, staying in the Brown Palace Hotel, walking through Vail with a haze of thirty year's of memory and the the awe of driving through the Great Sand Dunes, but I won't because the the best is yet to come: arriving Home to New Mexico.

Stayed tuned for Act III: Setting up the Artist Studio and praying for Hot water.