Kaia Thomas - A path with ART

Shown here left to right: Kaia Thomas, Don Dean, Clement Scott, Lili Laurin, Cynthia Rosen and Glenn Renell.  Not shown: Harry & Linda Stacy, Susan Akridge and Sarah Thomson. Back in February I created a Facebook group called the Cochise County Plein Air Painters. My intention was to provide artists and art lovers in our area, along with artists who enjoy painting and exploring in our area, a place to come together and share art, photos, paint out opportunities, pretty much anything related to our beautiful Cochise County and painting outdoors. After inviting those who I thought would appreciate the group, it quickly sprang to life with enthusiasm - paintings and photos of loved locations were shared, and an interest in Portal, Arizona arose. In a very short amount of time a paint out had been planned and reservations were made for the first weekend of April to paint in Portal!   Located on the extreme eastern edge of Cochise County, onl...

I'm excited to announce I've been invited to exhibit at the Willcox tasting room of award winning Aridus Wine Co.! I will have a number of  paintings on display as well as some recent charcoal drawings. Miniatures, small works and greeting cards will also be available just in time for the holidays! The opening reception is December 3rd from 1-3pm and the show will be on display through the month of December. Also taking place in December is the first annual "A Painting's a Painting No Matter How Small" show put on by TwoTen Fine Art Gallery in San Antonio, Texas, which I was pleased to learn my small painting " Escalante Pasture" was accepted into. Click Here for show details.

"Evening Crescendo" 10x20 oil on canvas During the months of July and August here in Arizona, the summer skies were doing their evening magic with sunset after sunset, each one seemingly trying to out-do the next in color explosion and jaw dropping beauty. Has to be one of the biggest highlights of where I live and undoubtedly lends to extreme inspiration for painting. Speaking of which, I dove into a series of skyscapes inspired by these sunsets and found myself immersed in the discovery of color harmonies and abstract expression, which sky and clouds can make it easy to explore both those elements of painting. Very fun to do and I plan to continue more of these studies with a graduation into some larger works. Here are some of those studies which I also have available for sale through Daily Paintworks. Click on the provided links for further info and purchasing - enjoy!   "Cloud Drama" 9x12 in. oil on linen CLICK HERE for more info. ...

Giving a value study demo for the class (photo courtesy of Clement Scott) So, not only was the day of March 20th the first day of Spring, the new moon, AND a solar eclipse, it was also my first day of teaching a class and giving a demo! Of course it was a very nervous day for me, and I'm pretty sure I drove my family and close friends a little nuts with all that nervousness, but it was also a very exciting day that ended up being such a great experience. For one thing, I learned that I actually enjoy teaching, and even more so, giving a demo! A progression of my black and white value study (photo courtesy of Louise Walden) This class was part of the Art 130 course at the Cochise College in Benson, Arizona, taught by friend and fellow artist Clement Scott . He had invited me to be guest instructor for the introductory day of landscape painting. I am very grateful for the opportunity and so happy I was talked into it! The students were great too! There is something a...

"Old Practice" 6x12 in. oil painting, one of three pieces that was accepted and sold at the  Albuquerque Museum Miniatures and More Exhibition Fundraiser in November 2014 So, I came to realize that it had been 5 months since I wrote a blog post! It is shocking how time is flying by these days. It just so happens that those past 5 months contained some very post-worthy events that I am going to do my best to recap and get us up to date here. I was deeply honored and thrilled when I received the acceptance notice that I was juried into the 2014 Miniatures and More Exhibition fundraiser at the Albuquerque Museum of Art. I may have unleashed some squeals of excitement upon finding out. The show started at the end of October and ran through November. I entered three pastoral/landscape pieces and only two returned home...  the above painting had sold during the show! Also in November was the Heather Green Studio's Annual Anniversary Show. The theme was flower...

 "The Ol' Egg Room"      8" x 10" oil on canvas panel   Contact me for pricing and availability When painting pal Clement Scott and I, discovered an old barn to plein air paint in Pomerene, Arizona, we didn't realize the history that would be revealed about it after asking permission of the land owner to paint in his yard. This old dilapidated structure, tucked away amongst a grove of pecan trees and knee high weeds, had once been an important egg sorting room, where special lighting allowed them to reveal whether the eggs were keepers or not. It was a main supplier of eggs to many nearby towns. Who would of known??! Hearing a story such as this can help breathe life into a painting.  I added the chicken later on, as a sort of homage to the place and our experience.

"Unexpected Friend" - Framed 6" x 8" oil on canvas panel Available through 55 Main Gallery 55maingallery@gmail.com A friend of mine had this beautiful cat show up at her house one day, she was so purrfect! As it turned out, this cat had been in a car accident and was later reunited with it's owners. My friend had bonded with with the cat, and was sad to see her go. I had taken a photo of the kitty at one point, as I often do with cats I meet, and here it is years later, I ran across the photo and decided to paint from it. What a joy! This is a small, framed and ready to hang on your wall, 6" x 8" oil painting.

"Blackstone Sunflowers" 10" x 8" oil on canvas panel Contact me for pricing and availability During a recent trip to one of my favorite places on Earth - The Blackstone Hotsprings Hotel , I was struck by grounds keeper Dorthy's amazing sunflowers that were growing there. Having brought my painting gear along, I set up and produced this plein air piece. I am always deeply inspired whenever I stay there!

"Velvet and Leather" 12" x 12" Oil on Canvas     Happening right now at Heather Green Studios is an art exhibit celebrating 3 years in Bisbee, Az., which I am currently participating in. This years theme is Leather, the 3rd traditional anniversary gift.     So, (I asked myself) "What do I do with THAT theme!?" I almost didn't have an entry for the exhibition after some time with no inspiration, BUT, one day, as I was puttin' on my boots, it occured to me that they were leather... aha! An inspiration at last! I don't have a lot of experience with still life painting, and more specifically, painting boots. I love a challenge though:) I not only decided to take on painting a still life of my leather boots, but I decided to use only two colors + white. I chose the complimentary colors of purple and yellow. In the end, I was pleased with the results. My background ended up having the look of velvet, which was not my intention, but I...

April 13th, 2013 Taken during my show at 55 Main Gallery in Bisbee, AZ pictured here are gallery owner Cristina Plascencia (left) and myself with the artwork.   I was having one of those insightful moments a few days ago and it lead me to the thought "I should write a post about that!" So here goes...   It came to my attention that I have had this blog for nearly four years now. Of course, there were periods of time where I seemed to endlessly fail to find the time to write a post but I did my best to write when I could and share some important aspects of my journey and artworks I created.   I had pondered in the beginning what to call my blog - I wanted it to be fun and interesting and of course pertain to what I was going to share - thus the play on words  A Path with "Art" was born. It wasn't until recently that this blog name took on a much more profound meaning for me.  At the beginning of October 2012, at a very low point in my lif...

Here are two ACEOs completed recently...   Tibetan Buddhist and Australian Aboriginal designs...interesting combo:)

I'm huddled in my studio today, trying to stay warm. It's raining again...if it weren't for the cactus everywhere, I would think I was back living in Washington! I live in southeast Arizona where we have been in a 15+ year drought and I do believe that the start to this year is changing that... So, whilst I am huddled in the studio, I am making the best of it and being creative. I have heard of ACEO ( art card, editions and originals)for some time and left it on the back burner until this weekend. I tried my first one and I think I'm in love. I'm a detail freak, so working on such a small canvas is such challenging fun!           "Fig Trees" acrylic on canvas paper 2.5" x 3.5" I will definitely continue to create these little guys and have them up for sale on the Etsy shop soon!

 The word "Mandala" comes from the Sanskrit language meaning (roughly) "circle"...the way I often define it is "sacred circle".   "Direction" 12" x 12" acrylic on board   Painting a Mandala is like an exercise in taking one to their "sacred" space, both the one painting it and the observer... "Joy" 20" x 20" acrylic on canvas framed purchase here  When we see what is happening in science, the deeper we go, the more these kind of incredible patterns emerge.  Take fractal geometry for example... "Spectacle" 12" x 16" acrylic on board available as matted print purchase here I am so happy to have found Mandalas - I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed painting them:) "The Flower of Life" 8" x 8" acrylic on board You can find these paintings in my Etsy shop !