2008 Painting Blog

I paint, along the road, each year out west, on my way to various teaching jobs in California, New Mexico and Colorado.

These road paintings are my raw material and they usually lead me somewhere in my studio painting each winter, back on the Brooklyn waterfront.


I had called the process, "The Western Jaunt", back in the 1990's when I traveled, after Walt Whitman's "Open Road" idea. There was something of the sacred, idea, in that search, after Harold Bloom and Emerson's idea of mirroring what we see as "what is best and oldest in our selves".

Today the more profane, idea, of "Road Movie" and "On the Road" pervades this travel. It is the juxtaposition of the two which interests me these days.

I am alone there much of the time, and so much goes unnoticed. So here it goes-- let me know what you think.


There is a website at http://www.gregorybotts.com/ with Studio paintings, Gallery information, and Archives of work.



Below are posts of the first leg of my journey. I will be returning to New Mexico next week through Big Sur and Yosemite.

Starting out in New Mexico

I saw a great Maynard Dixon Painting of the Pedernal, at a gallery in Santa Fe.

The Pedernal is a flat topped mountain that Georgia O'Keeffe painted over and over during her life. This painting was made in 1931 when Maynard spent, with his then wife Dorthea Lange, about 8 months painting in NM and around Taos.

It reminded me of a Hopper painting I knew and I walked down to the book store and saw Hopper had painted a very similar painting of Cape Cod the same year. Dixon would have been aware of these paintings, I think.

I say all of this as Dixon is such a good western painter because his form is molded from eastern tradition which is linked to the larger European.

Most painter's out West come in on the larger painting conversation in the middle and don't really know the voices. Maynard is talking to Hopper, and the early Modernists, though he mainly is true to the landscape in front of him-- through them.

Pt Sur

We painted this evening up at Pt Sur.

The ocean was unusually calm and produced the heightened viridian, in the ocean shallows. There is a great shape of white sand beach extending from the block of land called Pt Sur. We saw cattle down lying on the beach below. I never saw that before.

Years ago I sneaked onto the private property, nestled in the Monterey pines out of the wind. I remember writing in my notebook that evening "like having stepped off a ship," the wind and deep perspective, the blinding sun, all creating that effect.

We made a painting, and I had 20 minutes to make another quick painting as this sun once again slipped down. I made a similar one in the early 1990's. I have repainted that scene numerous times in my studio.




I made an 8 foot square studio version which was in my show in Santa Barbara last year.

We drove home slowly, winding on the road and had that deeply satisfied feeling. The stars above in the dark-- and the black silhouettes of pine.

Painting Along (the end of) the Road

I have painted here many times in the past. This is really, along the road-- as every tourist stops for a look at the Chama River and I'm the 'other' subject. Well, its worth it and usually it's not so bad but it's the height of the tourist month.







I think I may have reached the end of the road. I have to pack to return home to New York City. I have things to do in the studio so I won't have time to paint out of doors any more this time.