Southwest A-Z

Making progress on my Southwest A-Z digital paintings. Half way done.

The "48 hour 70% off discount on canvas prints" at Photobucket helped spur me on.
Use code CANVAS70 to get yours. (None of my prints are available, sorry. I use Photobucket as a service bureau).

X. Still trying to think of something for X. Ideas anyone? 

Redefining the Edge

I've made the executive decision that ANY road trip takes me to The Edge.

Anne M Bray, Dawn: Reeves County, TX, Oil on canvas, 24 x 48"  ©2001 

I'm having another exhibition at TAG Gallery, entitled Southwest Sojourn.
The show runs
April 21 - May 16, 2015. 
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 25, 5-8pm 
Artists' Talk: Saturday, May 9, 3pm
TAG is located at D3, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica

I wrote my Artist Statement about the work this morning. Here it is:

Southwest Sojourn

The greater Southwest has been a huge inspiration for my roadscapes (landscapes involving roads) that I’ve been working on for more than twenty years. I have driven all over the US, and images that I photograph in the Southwest spark my creative juices like no other region. I think it’s the stark beauty of sky and earth stripped down to their core elements that pulls my soul.

On a quirkier note, there is a lot of unusual roadside business that happens in the Southwest. Route 66 [supplanted by I-40] and I-10 are the two chief arteries for passing through. As every seasoned roadtripper knows, Route 66 is a great source of vintage visual wealth: funky old signage, souvenir shops, ageing motels. I revisit some of these spots in my “Southwest A to Z” series, comprised of 6x6” digital paintings representing every letter of the alphabet.

I’ve driven there so that you don’t have to. My roadscapes are a celebration of fleeting moments frozen in time. Urban, rural, and the roads in-between -- I share with the viewer windows for contemplation.

2015

Anne M Bray, C is for Coffee Tanker, AZ, Digital painting on canvas, 6 x 6" limited edition of 10,  ©2011 

Ever On the Edge

Old notes from the road:

Room 164
This was a good spot.
Chosen because right next
door to a Waffle House
(But I'm not having a Waffle)
Last night's highlight was
I picked up a praying mantis
on my bag (probably
on the bush next to the
car) It was bright, bright
green. I took it back outside,
after my bath.

Left L.A. at 2:00, just like
I thought I would. Traffic
was horrendous and I only
got this far.
Anything on the drive yet?
The image of the stark
rocky mountains rising out
of the desert sandy reddish
as the sun sank behind a
streaky set of clouds --
briefly it flared into a garish
Arizona display -- but that was
behind me. Ahead, the hazy
blue slowly getting darker + darker.

--------------------

I'm on a mad hunt to find a photo of Zzyzx Road that is SOMEWHERE in my stacks of old road photos. I came across the above in one of the piles. Now I can't remember which pile it belongs with. Sigh. Not dated, I can't tell you when it was written.

Ever on the edge -- have I ever taken a leisurely road trip?
Not one trip comes to mind.
This is why I usually travel solo. I push hard, stopping only occasionally.
It's grueling and that's how I like it.