Ghost House, Ghost Ranch #

 

 6" x 6 inches, oil on panel, © Ann Painter, 2010

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On rainy or cold days, I often take students inside Ghost House to paint from the interior of this old adobe building that housed early visitors to the Ranch. Built by hand in 1886, the building has been restored to retain the original character or the structure. There are stories of cattle rustlers, hangings in the huge cottonwood tree out front and ghosts that continue to haunt the place to this day.  The warm adobe walls change color all day long, depending on light, time of day and weather conditions. The interior of the building is lit by daylight streaming through the small original windows built into the the thick adobe walls.  It is this light and the glow it created that inspired this painting of chairs and table in the main room. This commissioned painting was created as a companion piece for the earlier Ghost House Exterior, Ghost Ranch 13.  

Old Juniper Tree, Ghost Ranch 17

8 x 8 inches, Oil on Masonite, © Ann Painter, 2010
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The Badlands at Ghost Ranch are filled with old cedar trees that have stood unchanged, for decades. During my last plein air painting class, I found myself feeling drawn to paint several of them. This particular tree is set into the landscape in an area not easily seen from the road. There is an arroyo winding along in front of it and, depending on your point of view, purple hills in the background. The twists and turns of the tree and the way it framed the background hills really drew my eye, and I wanted to see if I could create an image that would represent my experience of this place.

These old cedars have endured years of weather that would have destroyed many other trees and yet, they stand year after year, virtually unchanged. Their roots are dried up and branches broken but they continue to stand. Each tree has a unique character and spirit reflected in the twists and turns of its dried out limbs reaching toward the sky. They are not dead, but very alive.

Gerald's Tree, Ghost Ranch 16

8 x 8 inches, oil on masonite, © Ann Painter, 2010
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There is some question whether this is really the tree that Gerald danced around and that O'Keeffe painted but the tour bus that stops at all the places O'Keeffe painted at Ghost Ranch always says it is. I have my doubts but no matter. It is a wonderful old cedar that stands by the side of the dirt road that leads to the home O'Keeffe owned and lived in during the summer at Ghost Ranch for over 50 years. The view behind it changes depending on the angle it is viewed from. I have stood in front of it and had my picture taken as have so many others. It's that kind of place. Over the years, I did not feel particularly moved to paint it. If it was really Gerald's Tree, O'Keeffe had already done it better than anyone else might, or so I thought. I have passed by, sat under and had students photograph, draw and paint the tree over the past decade and finally decided, despite my misgivings, that it had to be part of this series of paintings I am doing about Ghost Ranch.

All the previous paintings in the Ghost Ranch series have been 6 x 6 inches. Painting so small offers its own set of challenges and after 15 Ghost Ranch paintings and 10 butterflies the same size, I felt ready for something different. I used an 8 x 8 inch panel for this piece. Like the others, the archival masonite panel was primed with black gesso but instead of going directly to oil, I did an under painting in acrylic which seemed to brighten the oil colors and give a richness to the piece that I am very pleased with. Painting has always created an experience of intimacy for me with my subject. I am forced to stop and really look, to pay attention and be in the moment as I look and then paint my impressions of what I see and feel about the subject. I know this tree now, in ways I did not before and that is the magic for me. It is what keeps me coming back over and over to paint the things that catch my eye and interest me.

Blue Ladder to the Sky, Ghost Ranch 9

6 x 6 inches, oil on masonite, ©2009 Ann Painter
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One of my students was staying in Coral Block in October. The room was not the best but she discovered this blue ladder leaning up against a cottonwood tree when she looked out the back window of her room. She pointed it out to me and I thought I knew exactly how I wanted to paint it. The challenge was putting a vertical image in a square format. I lay on the ground to photograph it hoping that would forshorten the ladder enough. There are several blue ladders leaning up against things at Ghost Ranch. It is a New Mexico thing originally intended to give access to the flat adobe roofs. Now, the ladders are mostly decorative, and some, like this one, are painted turquoise.

This ladder seems to reaching for the sky which is not a surprise at Ghost Ranch where many believe the space between heaven and earth is very thin. I don't know if this is why so many people are called back to Ghost Ranch over and over or if it is simply the beauty of this place that is filled with spirit and mystery. I wanted this painting to represent my spiritual experience of the Ranch. Since I started this painting, snow has started to fall from the heavens and accumulate on the earth. It seemed an interesting an appropriate addition to the painting.