Painting live in Colorado is one of the best experiences for me to grow as a Mark Maker. I use the term Mark Maker, because it describes the work I do with my painting and my life.  As a painter or as a person, I must learn to see what the reality around me is, so that I have the eyes to see. Then I begin to make marks that represent reality (to the best of my ability). So in painting I use these four marks or language; Value, Shape, Edges and Texture.  I learned this language from the artist Josh Been in Salida, CO. If you have a chance check him out on his website, and let him know I sent you in his direction. https://www.joshuabeen.com/

In my day to day life the  language of my mark making is about being attentive to the people around me and asking “How I can be an encouragement and a person who adds to someone’s life?”  The marks I want to make are : Love, Attentiveness, and Forgiveness, to name just a few of the available ones for me to develop.  

Whether it’s through painting, or in relationships, I must learn to see. When that happens, there is the emergence of beauty. A beauty that transcends the material and opens our eyes to even-more beauty. This is a small gouache painting from on location in Abo, NM. It is of the ruins of the northern most trading post established by the Franciscan Priest.  Their mark, even with the ravages of time still exude beauty for those who have eyes to see it.  (Happily a patron has commission me to paint a larger sized piece of this view.) 

Keep seeing , keep making your mark

Gary