Winnifred 24x30, Ruby 15x20 (Sisters)

It's rodeo week in Tucson. The kids are out of school (they even close the colleges), the spring birds are singing like crazy and everyone is polishing their boots and silver bolo ties. All wait in breathless anticipation for the crowning of this year's rodeo champ. Who will it be? I could hardly hazard a guess what with all the gayly clad entrants and what not. Maybe I'll just do like I do every year and...completely ignore this singularly Tucsonian event. I will paint away the hours and every now and then try to imagine why anyone would want to learn to walk bow-legged. Believe me, it's not comfortable. I'm contemplating taking my cane with me to Mexico this weekend. One, to stave off would be attackers and two, to garner all the sympathy I feel I got coming. From what I've heard, it seems my erstwhile Latino counterparts haven't fully appreciated the gravity of my recent injury. I'm going to set them straight hoping to get a few extra special meals out of the deal. Trees, shorebirds (they won't make it into paintings) and irrigation canals will be my photographic targets. Hopefully we'll get some good inspiration for another couple of masterpieces. Until then, enjoy these two new beauties. They are for sale/auction on the Bay.

Cold Moon 18x12, Orange Blossom 18x12, Lowland Graze 24x18

Here's three more little jewels mined from the depths. The tricky part is to know how to crack open the tectonic plates. From there the rest is easy. It's not too unlike a trip to the landfill. You think that your heavy steel crowbar will have enough snort to hold the chain as you drive off with a load of junk in the trailer. The junk, tied to the chain which is wrapped around the crowbar staked to the ground is supposed to hold the load as the trailer pulls away. This makes for an easy off-load...saves maybe 30-45 minutes. However, that 1inch diameter crowbar can (and does) bend! Sometimes you need to stake-in a big ol' spud bar to get the job done. Yeah, just like oil painting at the easel. And you thought you needed to attend a high-priced workshop to learn how to paint. Just don't forget your miner's hat and flashlight.

Goldenrod, wedgewood Moon, Westerly

Here's three new happy paintings. The top one called Goldenrod is the view we had traveling through Utah not long ago, just south of Bryce Canyon. I've not embarked on any road trips lately and am feeling it's about time I get out of the cabin and stretch my legs a bit. Does titanium stretch? I'll have to be careful with the left one. The last thing you want is a bunch of screws strewn over the roadway. I'm thinking either California near Monterrey to check on our galleries or...a trip south to Mexico to see if we can't get thrown in and out of jail for the weekend. Either way I'll keep the blog posted and be sure to take detailed notes. Meanwhile, enjoy these three for sale and auction here.

The Roaring Wind 24x18, Tree Elf 24x15

Can you be fat and fit? This, the compelling title of an article in the latest issue of Runner's World. In my case it should be called Limper's World. Do I run? Well, I fancy myself a jogger of sorts and since I have a marathon on the list of things I'll not accomplish by age 50 I guess I could qualify in a kind of round about manner. I didn't really take notes but what I recall from reading this article is that for every year you age past forty you will gain a pound per month if you don't excersise a corresponding increase of 1/2 hour per day... or eat seven meals less per week. Don't quote me on this but by age fifty you should be running about 47 miles per day and eating one leaf of spinach per week just to maintain your middle-aged physique. This to say that after 3 plus months of convalescence I am about 230 lbs overweight and need to get in about 7 or 8 marathons before my birthday ...or, I will implode. Needless to say. I don't read Runner's World much anymore. I do paint however and am on pace to break a few records...two thousand paintings and counting...here's a couple more from the vault.

Black Cavendish, Abythar 18x12 (sold) Bumble Bee 30x24

Maybe you've wondered how catch and release hunting is actually accomplished. What techniques do they employ?, you've asked yourself. Well, the picture above gives a certain amount of insight as to what really happens in the duck blind of our exclusive and soon-to-be patented club. I even have pictures of young men gazing wistfully towards the horizon, wreathed in aromatic wisps of fragrant Black Cavendish, hoping for a glimpse of wing tips through garlands of evocative haze. Of course if I let those loose on the www that could seriously jeopardize our fledgling movement, not to mention my standing with certain religious folk. Be that as it may, I intend to continue my intense pursuit of the Face of righteousness and love and to surround myself with ducks of many colors...and paint pretty pictures...and wonder if C.S. Lewis smoked a pipe along with his buddy J.R. Tolkien...in a duck blind.

BROKEN LEG UPDATE: Last eve I walked/ jogged a mile! It was the first time in over three months of takin'-it-easy that my heart had a chance to pump at over 20 beats per minute (exaggeration) It felt good (and painful) and with 50 yrs. on this planet looming like a large metaphysical portal into another world I am determined to make the best of it. March will see all kinds of birthdays of significance this year and I'll be here to gladly receive congratulatory pats on the back from friends near and far. The paintings pictured are available for purchase or bidding wars here.

Baa Baa Black Sheep 16x20

This was a recent commission. Winter notwithstanding, these sheep are as happy as they are sassy. They are, after all, black sheep and we expect nothing less from them. Maybe you've been labeled the black sheep of your family. Well, as far as I can tell you're in good company.
Another big ol' moon painting will be listed for sale on eBay tomorrow. It would have gone out today but the photography has to wait till the shiny parts dry a bit.

My therapy continues and I have been mucking through marsh and mire the last few weeks practicing Catch and Release hunting as per doctor's orders. The season was a good one and I took many a photo of sunrise and steam pouring off the effervescent effluent that flows north from Tucson's epicenter. Another 30x40 masterpiece is in the making so stay tuned.

Pendragon Circle 30x40

I've really got to get better at taking pictures or get a better camera. The bright spots get way over exposed and even working a little photoshop magic can't seem to correct it. The clouds in this have a lot of great color and stuff going on that is lost on the poor photography/image.

I named this after a Sci-Fi story we've all read. Certain books make their rounds in our family and there was a series we consumed a few years back that almost consumed us. It was an otherworldly tale of dragons and sorcerers, fair maidens and knights...not too unlike my real life. This sky above is seen at the time of day called the "time between times" when travel to other dimensions is possible. Doctor Who and I have the same screwdriver and time machine so we don't really need to trifle with "special" times to travel the time/space continuum. Most of you, however, need something akin to this painting to get you started. Feel free to check it out...for sale on eBay here.

Honey Moon 20x16, Apple Valley Cows 30x24, Brush Pile

I have several buckets like this. Stiff old brushes that should be discarded mixed with odd and misshapen brushes or ones with strange shapes or made from unreliable materials. I used to use quite a number of brushes to elaborate a painting. Anymore I lean on just a small handful of go-to shapes and sizes. My main criteria for a brush is that it have a long handle. I don't care if it is made from the best mongoose hair this side of the Nile, if it has a short handle it ain't good for nothing but dilly dallying around. Langnickel are the best economic brushes I've found to date. They are super durable and great for those lazy artists that leave their brushes in their paint pots soaking in solvent all the time. I don't really know anyone that does that but if there are some mis-guided individuals that pass themselves off as fine art painters and treat the tools of their trade with such disdain, these are the brushes for them.

Santa Cruz Moon...Pipe Dreams Vineyard

My wife took a job...first ever (in 24 yrs.) I guess the starving artist thing was getting a bit old. Actually she has always wanted to work. She's a school teacher and if not for our own unruly, unschooled kids she would have happily plied her trade over the years. Instead, bound to clean up after a pile of messy ingrates she has resigned herself to a fate worse than mine. Which, truth be told, hasn't been all that bad. The new bionic leg prevents me from being called up to kick field goals during the playoffs (something about the rules preventing the use of adamantium enhanced X-men abilities) and a few other options are now off the table. So, I suppose she'll just have to support me while I put to canvas the fanciful images that dance through my mind; a veritable never-ending kaleidoscopic cornucopia of hues and shapes...like the pictures above.
The one on the top is the view I had last week. It's my favorite place to practice catch and release hunting. The one on the bottom is a larger version of a California vineyard view I've done before.

Beula land 24x30 Before the Great Flood 40x30

Though I haven't updated on my recovery nor sent out many warm Christmas and new years greetings be assured that my sentiments are with you and that my leg remembers more and more its former strength and beauty. I saw a TV special last weekend commemorating the Tucson tragedy of a year ago. They focused on the incredible doctors and staff of Tucson's University Medical Center, specifically the emergency room. Well, I was there not long ago with one leg pointing north as the rest of me pointed south, if you recall. Of course my little ordeal was not that of the shooting victims but I'm sure the mystery magic of modern medicine worked on me saved me from years of trauma and penguin walking (I still walk like one...but not for long) Eleven weeks out from surgery and the damaged nerves are growing back enabling me to be able to lift my foot and walk without a brace; something the docs feared with the double bone break and the shattered fibula. I took advantage of the holiday cheer and seasonal tidings to take a small break from the computer machine and enjoy some wintry paintings. Also, my serious couch time with elevated foot has afforded me plenty of opportunity to meditate on important things...and to see the value of suffering. Can you say that? Well, I found a lot of very encouraging scripture passages that speak to the issue of suffering and have sensed a peculiar blessing on me because of (in spite of?) it. I know, it ain't like they took both my legs off and left me for dead in the ditch. And I did still my craven and self-pitying heart with that thought many a time while in the first few weeks of slightly Morphine/Percocet/Vicodin-mitigated writhing. Things can always be a lot worse but my point is that there is a picture that's bigger than all this. You can find a whole lot of comfort and insight in Hebrews chapter 12. Are things a bit rough for you and your weary heart right now? Read this passage. Are your tired eyes in need of a soothing salve? Look at these paintings. Have your ears grown dull of hearing? Listen to Bob Dylan sing a cover of one of my songs.

Christmas Moon 30x24 Northwest (Mt.) 18x12

5 weeks out since major trauma visited one of my lower appendages. I put on my game face as I crutched (I wish I could say sauntered) my way into the doc's office. I told the surgeon I had seen the IM Nailing procedure on You Tube and it was not a pretty sight. "Yeah", he said, "We really get on it. It's pretty medieval and ...it's pretty fun. Yeah, it's a pretty fun surgery we get to do with this stuff". Wow, he said all that with a twisted grin and a few suppressed chuckles. Seems one doctor really found his calling in life!
The other attending physician went on to tell me all the details they hadn't divulged prior to the "your making excellent progress" comment. Come to find that a lot of nerve damage was feared and the prospect of having to wear a foot brace for life wasn't too far off. Well, I'm just glad to have both feet below me. I'm pretty much weened off the pain meds. and have even been to the duck blind a couple of times...keeping the catch-n-release hunt club going. So, you see, I'm just about as fit as a fiddle and soon will be jumping and leaping and praising God which is my normal daily activity as well as ...painting pretty pictures. The two pictured here are from Montana. They are for sale on auction on eBay. Just type in HAWKINS in the search category "ART".

Tall Trees (Namers beware!) Mike Mahoney's new book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a link to my new favorite book.... Artist, friend and mentor Mike Mahoney wrote a real good one! We used to hang out in Montana together. He's a native of the most red necked state I've ever known. But he's an artist...and a writer. That helps some. Montana still breeds 'em as individualistic as they come and if you get a chance to read his latest you'll see why and I doubt you'll be disappointed. It's a SUPER fun and intriguing read, perfect for a vacation book and one that will really transport you to another world...very cool indeed.
If you have read any of my blog entries you'll see that I am a big fan of being transported. Triple thumbs up!!! (who has three thumbs?) and five out of four stars review for this.

Cross Roads 18x24

Montana near Wolf Point. The high line. Dry land wheat farms and lots of antelope, mule deer and ...weather. A good friend just paid his dues. One year in the clinker for a DUI. He lost his job, his house, part of his family and almost lost his mind. I'm all for lockin' em' up and throwin' away the key but there are some cases that make you want to create your own law a la Judge Roy Bean. One beer and a routine traffic stop many years after he had really driven drunk, two times in a row, was all it took. So this, the third strike was the one that put him away. The patrolman that stopped him regretted that my friend told him he had just had a beer with lunch. He wasn't going to ask or even check but because the information was offered and there was a previous history he was arrested on the spot. This cool scene of a dry land wheat field in northeastern Montana was made with freedom in mind. Good to have you back brother.

Huskies 18x12

A happy little fall view of northern color. It was late October and there were still leaves on trees in the southern half of the state. Northern Minnesota was barren though and only offered a stark and silent cacophony of subtleties. Treks to my homeland are like a view into another life. Kind of like the television shows I've been forced to watched while tied to the sofa with this blasted peg leg. Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore aren't nearly as funny as I remember them to be and the maelstrom of voices vying for a place in my ear only cause me to close my eyes and look forward to another round of Vicodin...or the next surge of energy that will allow me to paint. The truth is, I'm not much one for watching the tube and especially dislike the managed "news" that pours out of that glowing devil-orb in a constant stream (river Styx?) of bytes and hooks and venom-tipped barbs. Even so, bits and pieces make their way into the cracks and crevices of my pain wracked mind and I've been transported all over the place these last few weeks. So, nothing like a tranquil scene like the one above to remind me of real beauty.

Allegiant, Down Home 12x18

Broken leg be danged. I am painting again and enjoying the new small format. Yes, for me 18x12 inches is small. I've got a few upcoming of my recent journey to the northland and these new ones of my fourth favorite state, California are already drying and for sale. I'm letting these go at a must-pay-the-doctor-bills low, bargain basement rate. So, if one of the new ones strikes your fancy feel free to bid. You can find the sale page by following the link at the top right of the blog.

Walmart Model

Beyond pathetic. The Walmart shopper, relegated to search for unreachable third shelf items while riding a machine not too unlike the one which put him in this position in the first place. So was my first outing one week after surgery. I was running low on pain killers and we all know Walmart pharmacies are a good deal. Here pictured I have a whole bag full of stuff that should only be legal in Mendocino, California...or Russia.
The day of the surgery one of the kids ran over the dog in our driveway. Now both of us are limping around looking for affection and looking quite pathetic. The studio has been moved to the old school room and with no stairs to negotiate I'll have no reason not to put my feelings to canvas. Stay tuned. I should have some up this coming week.
My blog friends are awesome! Thank you so much for writing and caring. Many of you have kindly read through the veil of my (genuine but strained) jocularity and dared to peer deep into the dark, swirling pain-fraught specter that lies before us...with all its potential cares and worries and fangs and doubts about the future. I appreciate with all my heart the nice expressions and really take them to heart. With God's grace and the Lord Jesus showing Himself to be the kind master He is, we will make it through. Also, uncle Walmart is close by as you can see so there really shouldn't be any lack of essentials. No, I don't buy my paints there!

All last week (and the week before) I was looking forward to posting some nice photos of Minnesota and had a whole bunch of clever and artsy things to say about our little excursion to the north land. Well, obviously my plans have been interrupted. And now, in the makeshift convalescent room my cyber activity has been severely downgraded. I'm working on an old laptop with missing keys and no easy way to plug in my camera etc. (Actually, it's quite easy...I just can't move) So, a little update here to thank my friendly well-wishers. A lot of mail has come in and it's really great...and really cheers me up. Thank you!

I tried to upload a picture from inside the ambulance. It's probably best I couldn't. I was taking pictures throughout my little ordeal the other day and even asked one of the kids to run and grab the video camera while I lay in a giant pool of agony and thorns. They didn't comply. But I did get a lot of shots of the emergency room and all my "health care professionals" etc. The hospital highlights are too many to tell but the ultra-sounds taken (there were four) seemed particularly humorous to me. I kept asking the techs if it was gonna be a boy. I got no laughs. But I did see the needle go into the sciatic nerve and dump a bunch of numbing effect down my leg. That was right before they put me out and said I was not going to remember any of this stuff anyway. I remember everything! ...even hovering over my body as they pounded that rusty ole spike into my shin bone. Well, enough gory details, you all get enough of that from watching the evening news. Thanks again for writing and caring and especially praying. As I lay on the naked desert surrounded by my family (before the ambulance came) I felt a compelling peace. I asked them to worship God with me. Strange, I know. But somehow, at that moment it seemed the most correct and good thing to do. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Before & After

Yes, this is my leg. No, these are not photos from a box of old memories. Yes, it is as painful as you can imagine. No, I'm not addicted to pain killers...yet.

They kept asking me how bad the pain was on a scale of 1-10. This first started while the young rural paramedics were gawking at my left foot flopping around at improbable angles as they tried to figure out how to put a splint on it. Later, in the hospital they showed me a chart, a series of cartoon faces expressing different levels of pain. They all looked pretty sour to me. I tried my best to look like the last two. It's not that I really needed more morphine. They were pretty liberal with that nasty stuff and though I was more jovial than expected (My son wouldn't call 911 'cause he thought I was joking as I lay propped up on my elbow next to the garden tractor (quad) smiling...till he saw my foot pointing south while the rest of me pointed north) it didn't take long to realize we weren't playing them for a free surgery, a few meals and a bit of pain killer. Now, after one week of writhing with a 16" chunck of rebar pounded into my tibia, I am learning what life is like with no pogo sticks or Zumba in my near future. But I must paint and paint I will. Look forward to new percoset-inspired works

Visits and words of comfort welcome.

Silver Creek 30x24

I am mysteriously drawn to this scene. I have a number of photos of similar views from around the country (and Mexico). A creek in a meadow with a lone tree. There's got to be something symbolic about that. Maybe I could get someone to psychoanalyze me and we could get to the root of my inner turmoil. Or, maybe it's just another pretty picture that we can enjoy together. This, along with a few other new paintings is being offered on auction. You can bid by following the link at the top right of the blog page.

Which One of These is Not Like The Others?

Sky, water and fowl. This is the perfect trifecta. Who could ask for more? I'm still piling the oil paint high and deep on the old palette. And it still needs replenishing at regular intervals. That means more fantabulous works are ready to be rolled out when next years' models are announced...if not before. Be sure to check on the link to "art for sale" at the top right side of the blog page. There I have a few new ones on auction as well as some available for purchase at prices that should cause redness of face and general embarrassment, shame and self loathing to any self-respecting artiste of this generation. (glad I'm from another era)

Mt. Lake 6x8 Never Saw It Coming 48x36

This is like taking a large mastiff for a walk...on the same leash as a toy poodle. I'm gonna make a few smaller paintings to bridge the gap between the Haves and the Have-nots. FYI, both of these took over 30 years to make.

Mystery Muse 40x30

It's that time of year. Slogging through mud and wet, partially decomposed vegetation brings out the best in me. I have been approaching my favorite marshes and swamps and catching the tail end of the monsoon cloud action as a bonus. I tried to make a teaching video the other day. Well, I did record and teach through an entire painting. It turned out real good 'cept for one thing. I oriented the camera to capture the pallette and painting...vertical. Come to find that there is no way to format the captured video horizontally. So, unless we want to get sea-sick we'll have to wait till the camera crew shows up again. Stay tuned.

The Way of Water 18x24 Boy with Girl on Horse circa 1989

I must've been all of 27 years when this picture was took...a mere lad caring for a little child. That's my daughter holding the reigns of a horse that spooked real easy. He liked to buck me off...when he could. What was I doing letting her ride that wild bronc? Well, if I remember right, I sort of lived in a fantasy world then. I imagined myself a village doctor and one-time school teacher as I dwelt amongst backwoods natives in the hinterlands of ol' Mexico. At the very least it afforded me the opportunity to hone my woodworking, six-shooting and adobe making skills. Not to mention the spinning of yarns in multiple languages.
The Santa Cruz river (effluent) flooded the other day. I went out to check on my duck traps (don't worry, there ain't no such thing) and found some pretty cool vistas as the sun set...inspiring this nice new painting.

Sky Blue Water II 24x36 Painting Classes

How many times have I heard the song Magic Bus by The Who? I finally looked up the almost indiscernible (to a Viking) words "...a thrupence (three pence) and a sixpence everyday..." If it weren't for words that make you flip the Brits would have nothing on the rest of us. Of course their use of toothpaste is nothing to be envied but toss around terms like "thrupence and sixpence" and I think you can just about own the world. I'm toying with the idea of getting a Camera with an external mic so's to make a few teaching videos. I'm not looking forward to rolls and streams of film piled on the splicing room floor but if we can make some informative how-to vids without losing too many thrupence it might be a good project. I'll keep the blog posted.

Painting Demo Speed painting-Tea Commercial

Montana & California...respectively

A couple of new paintings I was able to get in edgewise. I'm using more paint on the canvas as I'm slowing down with all my work. I like the effect a lot and have even been taking time with some of these new ones letting the initial layers dry and doing glazing techniques. It makes for a rich depth that's hard to get in alla prima painting. Anyway, tales from the crypt are forthcoming so stay tuned. We have decided that one the best careers of the future is that of Grave Robber. I've only done it a couple of times but a franchise business model might be in the making...or I'll keep painting. We'll see.

Hidden Marsh 24x18

NOTE: Photo is skewed on this...I no longer have photoshop to adjust...don't get seasick while viewing

.Not that I should be afraid of them but really, cops on bicycles (if I were a criminal) inspire about as much fear (or confidence for those of us who aren't criminals) as snakes on a plane. Which in my world would register about a .5 on the one-to-ten scale. I suppose they do accomplish some "good" in the inner city where I witnessed two of them being jovial but stern to a pile of sun-baked hobos passing around a small paper bag. I tooled by in my 1 ton Chevy truck which tries to anonymously guzzle six-mile-per-gallon gas through a 2 in gas line (fire hose) imagining the utter futility if one of those guys had reason to nab me. They would be blowing whistles and cranking their handlebar bells 'till their thumbs blistered and I wouldn't even notice them over the purr (roar?) of the 36 square inch carburetor intake. And that's at idle! I suppose an errant spoke could theoretically poke through the 12 ply tread if I were to inadvertently drive over one of their Schwinn 10 speeds. In that case I would have to stop and give myself up.
So went the musings in my painterly brain right before I started this new glorious sunset the other day.

The heights 30x40

Overlooking Tucson from the north. That's where this sky full of bluster was witnessed. Sometimes things are crazier than they appear, defying coherent explanation. Sometimes, there's inexplicable calm in the midst of outright bedlam. Well, however bland and blasé my life may seem to me, I must admit that it's not lacking for what could very well be considered exciting blog-fodder. It's just that the vicissitudes of life don't always contribute expeditiously to the verisimilitude of our little reality. Nor does my proclivity to exaggerated adherence to veracity necessarily make for profitable (or believable) reading. Take for instance our latest sortie across the border. One would think I had had enough of border skirmishes and third-world intrigue for one life. Apparently I haven't. Suffice it to say I am not in jail, was not shot at (this time) and am back in the safe (?) confines of my little desert studio peacefully painting away the hours till the unimaginable foists itself upon me with it's frequent and disconcerting irregularity. No, I will not tire you with the tedium of my yarn spinning...this time!
Just enjoy another big ol' painting...a speed painting demonstration video of this will be posted soon on You Tube . I'll add a link here in a day or two.

Gold Frame, Picacho Peak 30x24

The last of the 24k gold was used in the making of this frame. It's pretty nasty to work with. Well, compared to metal leaf it is. You just have to go about it in the time honored fashion and since I don't have a specialized gold leaf horse hair brush I have to pick the stuff up with my corroded blacksmith hands and fumble the delicate ephemeral sheets on to the size (glue). And since I've not used rabbit hide to make my gesso or glue in many years my reference to time honored technique is just so much expended breathe. As long as I'm confessing, let me say that neither did I burnish said frame with a polished agate...also part of the time honored technique. The result was still as splendid as you could hope for (picture doesn't do it justice) and short of disturbing my mental equipoise, no one should be any the wiser. (I have my own secret techniques)

Picacho Peak loomed large and stark against the backdrop of the southwest sky. It was Sunday last and we were on our way to visit some illegal aliens that reside in Phoenix (I bet you think I'm kidding) My rig was full of Mesican relatives and as I locked up the brakes on the freeway to snap a shot(s) of this cool scene all kinds of expressions of fear and wonder reverberated throughout the cabin in tongues known and unknown. Later that day we witnessed a huge squall of dust descend upon Casa Grande about 20 miles from the mountain here pictured. I did take a picture or two of that...maybe I'll post them here before too long.

Air Head 30x40

So, I've done this painting before just not in this size. It is a big'un and 'cause I got a few of these huge canvases I'm looking forward to making more. I really love painting large with my big fat brushes, lots of paint, hair in my face and a crazed look in my eye... and some cool jazz on the radio. I have yet to get to the point where I'm emptying $100 buckets of oil paint on a palette on the floor and applying it with a hockey stick. I had a tortured-soul artist friend that did that. While I languished in oxygen deprived misery last week I thought of that and...stealing aspirin gum from the medicine cabinet. Somehow, in my feverish dementia I combined childhood memories with mixing paint and the result was truly inspirational. Now, rejuvenated with iron lung treatments and fresh rain from the monsoons I am set to work on a new sky series. Stay tuned.