Melanie Stokes Art

Tag: texas landscape

  • My September Challenge

    Black and White and Gray all Over

    After three days, the rain stopped and the Texas Heat was subdued.

    My September Challenge with Strada Easel (see Instagram account) has been to focus on the Element of Value. I am using only black and white, as I look for the range of dark to light values in whatever I draw or paint. I am keeping it simple by not adding any color. So today, I walked out into the pasture, surrounded by Snow on the Prairie wildflowers, and looked for a spot to sketch.

    I was sure missing those colorful oil paints! And without toned paper, I could not capture the white flowers.

    So, I went back to the studio to gather plein air gear. I dumped out all the colors of paint, and packed black, white and Gamblin’s Portland Grey. (That sure makes a lighter backpack!)

    As I settled back in my spot, and studied the soft creamy grays of the overcast day, I realized I had failed to slip my brush case into the backpack! Not wanting to waste time trudging back to the studio ( in my mud boots– remember it has been raining for three days), I scrounged through my backpack and found a tiny scriptwriter brush (dried stiff), a palette knife (hallelujah), and paper towels that can be used to spread paint in a pinch!

    I accepted the challenge to move ahead and begin painting. It was a challenge to grow, to work in not so perfect circumstances, to use what I had and make it work, to exist without colorful sprinkles, but to see beauty in the basics.

    And as I paint, analogies usually are formed — It was much like the challenge we face in our lives today! And more specifically, like the challenges our teachers (near and dear to my heart) are facing these days! It’s the challenge to exist without colorful sprinkles on top, but to see beauty in the basics.

    I’m looking forward to using color in my paintings again. I’m hoping for the day when teachers can use a full spectrum of teaching resources again. Until then, we will seize the day, make do with what we have, and live on!

  • Clouds and Hay Bales

    Melancholy Sky – 24×30 oil
    sold

    On a windy day in central Texas, one will notice the fluidity of clouds, the constant change in the sky, the light and dark, the subtle shifts of color and shape, the strong gusts, the temperature rising, and the temperature drop, which happens when the sun goes down. When I go outside, I never know what kinds of clouds will appear that day. It’s entertaining, brings beauty, but can be frightening when the winds come on us too strong!

    I’ve been thinking about how I rather like the constant state of the hay bales. The weighty strength of just sitting there in a tidy package, unbothered, immoveable, seemingly content. They shine like gold in the heat of sun. They have promise of being useful one day.

    I have begun to compare myself to these bales, when I ponder the state of flux in my world in 2020. When I look at news, scroll Facebook, and listen to conversations around me, I can get swept up in a gust or two, I can jump on a bandwagon and spin around, or I can change from light to dark in a matter of minutes, just like clouds. But thinking about these hay bales… I find more peace in just hiding under them, just staying grounded in who I am and the God in whom I trust. He is grander than hay bales or clouds of confusion.

    I pray the winds of change, discord, frustration, and confusion will become calm when the temperature drops. I have never seen this country so divided and volatile, so explosive and angry, so hurtful and selfish. I am ready for the winds to blow over, in God’s timing and God’s ultimate will. Until then, I will hide under these mighty hay bales and look for beauty.

  • Can you tell I used the same color palette?

    Three new paintings – 20×20 oil – inspired by the land on which we live.

    The black and white cow, Muncher, entertains us when she comes by to be hand fed in the evenings. (If you know me very well, you know that it is not my hand that feeds her!) Nevertheless, I enjoy her personality, complete with her fancy earrings!

    Bovine Beauty or Do These Earrings Make Me Look Fat?
    SOLD

    The white cow and her baby have been moved to another pasture. But we have watched the calf grow from hours after she was born, as we watched the mother care for and protect her offspring.

    Maternal Protection

    And the third piece, the landscape, was painted with the same palette of colors. In my mind, it was the first painting, as the pink sky on that Pink Morning is what inspired all three in this series. Pink color to tie the three together – the land and the cows – my surroundings. (And they could be your surroundings, if you want to hang them on your wall, as a group or not.)

    Pink Morning

  • Hunker Down at Home!

    A Place to Shelter
    24×12 oil
    $210

    The Coronavirus of 2020 – Time stood still while we all hunkered down in our homes until further notice was given.

    This painting is of our home. It is a solid, roomy structure for both my husband and me, with more than necessities inside. It sits on flat land, surrounded by pastures and the movement of cattle and birds. The sky is ever-changing! The wind blows at varied speeds. Even the ground changes when it rains! But the home is solid, stable, and constant in the midst of motion. For that, I am grateful.

    As I paint and think about Sheltering in Place, I wonder about those who have no home, those who have a transient lifestyle, and those whose homes were recently destroyed by storms. I wonder about those who are packed into crowded quarters, and those who are used to different schedules in different places, and now, all together in one place. I wonder about those who live with abusers, addicts, alcoholics with raging tempers, and hate. I wonder about those who are bored with each other, finding new ways of ignoring each other. I wonder about the dynamics of strained relationships and quirky personalities. I wonder about the children. I wonder…and pray.

  • This Too, Shall Pass

    This Too, Shall Pass
    11×14 oil

    It had been raining for about a week – a week of “social distancing.” As an artist, I’m very comfortable with being alone in the zone. But it was the lack of sunshine that was about to pull me under.

    The fog was thick from the moment I opened the window blinds that morning, yet beautiful, in a peaceful kind of way. The fog hovered until mid afternoon. The weather forecast for the next week said plenty of sun and heat! I couldn’t wait. I knew that “this too, shall pass.” And I felt, hope.

    I had heard the words before. “This too, shall pass” are reassuring words. Mammy had said them to me last week as we talked on the phone about the crazy state of things.

    We are looking for reassuring words in these very different days. Corona Virus, Social Distancing, Shelter in Place, Essential/Non-Essential …have all been added to our vocabularies. But the reassuring words, the familiar, encouraging words, are the ones we all want to hear.

    We know that this too, shall pass. We want it to happen quickly, suddenly, instantly, over and done. But most things don’t happen that way. The challenge for us is to hang on to the ancient words, the words of promise, while we wait for it to pass. Words like trust, faith, abide, prayer, encourage, redemption, eternal. These are the words we cling to and share, as we wait…with hope.

  • On This Road Together

    melaniestokesart.com
    On This Road Together
    24×36 oil
    $550

    The huge bare tree in the stark winter landscape filled the sky in larger than life proportions. When I took the photo in a Texas State Park, I noticed how small my grandsons looked in comparison. Although these brothers argue and fight like any siblings do, they are walking in the same direction on most days, looking out for each other. It only emphasized the message that jumped out at me. This road we travel in life can be spooky at times. There are huge obstacles growing before you that seem unsurmountable. The shadows seem to come out of nowhere and cast gloom on some days. We can’t always see where the journey is leading and it takes courage to keep going around that corner to the unknown.

    May there be someone to walk with and talk with on the journey, someone to keep you company, and someone to love and love you. We are on this road together!

    Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up. Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

  • Titled “Redemption”

    Redemption
    24×30 oil

    It had been the kind of day that makes you want to wrap up in a blanket and watch tv. The cloud cover and fog made it hardly worth looking out the window. And the damp cold did not beckon one to go anywhere on that January day.

    But, about sunset, on the day when I thought the sun would never shine, the wind began blowing the darkness away, the clouds broke open and the light burst through! The beautiful, multicolored, warm light, made my spirit soar! I posted the photo on social media and remarked that “the day had redeemed itself!”

    With that in mind, the title, “Redemption,” is placed on this painting. The day redeemed itself so that I didn’t strike it off the calendar as meaningless. My attitude was redeemed by recovering from dreariness. And I was reminded of how beautiful it is when a wrong is corrected, or when things are made right.

  • Dark Before Light

    Sunburst
    30×40 oil

    This 30×40 canvas has been on my mind for a few weeks or months. I wanted something big on a particular wall in our new home and I wanted to capture the sunrises that we enjoy on this Texas Prairie. Using one of my photos, I painted big and was pleased enough to hang it, …only to walk by later and take it down to rework the sky, …several times.  After another afternoon of painting and reworking, I walked out to “let it sit.”

    Funny how when you are in the middle of a painting, it seems to sit there in your unconscious state for days, just waiting to be worked out. Anybody else? Well, our pastor made a statement that was an “aha” for me. He said, “You have to paint the whole picture, before you can see the light.” Now, he was not giving painting advice. It was much more spiritual than that. But those words wedged their way into what was going on in my own mind about how to solve this puzzle of putting light and dark on my canvas.

    I wiped off as much as I could of what I had painted the day before, mixed up a dark blue and covered over the light. And I left to let it dry. (such patience) Only then was I able to pop in the light of the sun, waking us to another day.

    So often we have to see the whole picture, the darkness that was there to begin with, before we can appreciate the change that is made with light.

    Another fun fact to share — this 30×40 canvas has a painting of a dark swamp underneath. It was one of the darkest paintings I have ever done. When it didn’t sell, I decided to cover it with white gesso and use it again. So it truly has gone from darkness to light!

  • End of Summer

    melaniestokesart.com
    End of Summer
    11×14 Oil on panel
    sold

    I am coming to the end of a season, in more ways than weather. While the fall breezes are beginning to tickle at the edges of the intense summer heat, our time at The Ranch is coming to a close, also. Our new build is finished inside! We are moving in this week! After nine months of being in a transitory state, I think we have birthed a barndominium!

    Before and After

    You might remember, we began with a metal barn on 29 acres. Steve took walls apart, designed a new floorplan, and we secured a contractor to get this project underway. We chose this site because it is six miles from our son’s family. The acreage gives “room to breathe,” and be close to nature. Interior photos coming soon!

    Since November 2018, we have lived in a log home at the 85 acre ranch on the northwest side of Waco. (If you missed those adventures, scroll back and read the blog.) It has been the perfect Artist Retreat for me with access to almost daily plein air painting. And, I have more than 50 or so new paintings and studies from this place.

    I’m in the process of revealing these new paintings in a special online art show on this website! Also, many of them will be featured in my space at the Brazos Fine Art Show, to be held at the Waco Hilton, November 8-10. All paintings are for sale!

    The end of a season is usually welcomed. Most of us are glad to pack away summer clothes and get out sweaters. (Most of us are just as glad to pack away those sweaters when the warmth of spring rolls back around. ) Yet, there is something melancholy about coming to the end of a season. And while my knees are ready to live on one level again, and I am eager to bid the outside laundry room goodbye, I will miss the sunrises over the pond, the surprises of wildlife strolling by, the shade of the front porch swing and the ever present hospitality of the Covington Family, the owners of the Ranch.

    With gratitude, and a bit of anxiety, I close this chapter and look forward to what’s ahead on Red Gate Road. —Melanie Stokes

    End in Sight
    8×10 oil

  • Running Low

    Running Low (2nd painting)
    11×14 oil

    I’ve been watching the water level in the pond get lower and lower with the summer heat. The edges now show yellowed grasses that were once rooted deeply in the water. The fish fins pop up and I wonder if they are getting crowded as the water shrinks in August weather.

    This morning I woke before sunrise and went out on the porch to drink coffee. I studied colors as I watched the peachy pink sky become lined with lavender and explode into orange, as the bright ball of sun said, “I’m back! And ready to heat things up and soak up all the moisture I can find!”

    It’s been a while since I had an opportunity to paint outside. I’ve been working on a commission, (which is a great plan for days when air conditioned studios are preferred.) But I was missing my interaction with nature and my communication with the Creator, as painting outside is my favorite form of worship.

    I knew if I only drank one cup of coffee and grabbed my paint gear, I could get out there before the heat became miserable. But I sat and stared. I was running low, as low as that water level dipping below the reeds. My mind had been overloaded with this thing we call life; too much going on, too many decisions to make, too much noise and too many interruptions.  Can you identify?  I needed to be alone with God and paint,  to see the things He wants me to see, both visual and spiritual.  So I picked up my backpack and easel and drove to the other side of the pond. 

    I saw the beauty of the water’s edge, the light and shadow in the surroundings, the cool yellows of morning light, and the white and purple blooms of the wildflowers produced by the August heat.  And I began to feel reassured that I’m surrounded and supported by God’s love and goodness, His direction and provision.  Thus, my spirit soared and was renewed.  

    By 9:30 a.m. the sun had made its way over me and pushed me indoors.  I packed up as I chuckled about the irony of someone naming an August wildflower “Snow on the Prairie,” despite the August heat!  It must have been due to wishful thinking. 

    Here’s to the days we are “running low” and praying for the desire to overcome it.  My wishful thinking has something to do with hoping my energy level will rise.   

     Isaiah 40:31 says “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings of eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”  

    Oh yes!  I am hanging on to that.  Maybe you needed to hear that, too.