PBS Landscapes

January 12, 2011

Great trip to Ajo yesterday. It's a little over two hours south of here. An old copper smelting town, not far from the Mexican border. The mine is long closed and today the old homes are filled with retirees and hippies-artists with names like Lone Wolf. Spoke to a full house the library. Great crowd. Really enjoyed it. Sold a bunch of books and met some great people, including a local judge, now retired, who lives in Russ Shaw Senior's house. Russ Shaw Junior is one of my closest and zaniest friends (you may know him as Wonderful Russ) and his father, the senior, ran a Ford dealership in Ajo. Had to go see that house.

I have a tv appearance tonight on PBS' Horizon show. Going to be talking about my artwork. Last Saturday a cameraman came out to my studio and wanted to film me working. I whipped out this little study while he had two cameras trained on me:

Funny, because he was filming I let my brushes stay really wet, or more wet than I would if working alone. Notice the cool effect of the brittle weeds at bottom. That's all a happy accident. If you watch Horizon tonight you'll probably see this painting happen. I did one other painting in this fashion for the camera and here it is:

I also captured a couple things I wouldn't have normally, like the billowing clouds which I captured by using a wadded-up paper towel on the wet paint which gave it a very cloud like effect. Thanks PBS!

The Arizona Republic has asked me to write 500 words on gun violence in Tombstone. This is in reaction to the Tucson sheriff who said we all live in Tombstone now. By the way, I thought it was odd that the national press didn't capitalize tombstone, giving it an odd meaning, at least to me. Anyone else feel that way?

"You sons of bitches have been looking for a fight, and now you can have it."
—Wyatt Earp