Anthony J Hughes’ Neighborhood

Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope you enjoy the festivity of giddy little ghosts, dragons and fairies at your door. Be sweet and give them a treat.

Here's a treat for you!

"Brother and sister"

"Brother and sister", 15" x 14 1/16", watercolor, India ink and pastel, 140 lb paper.

"Brother and sister"

and BOO!

cute little scaries - Happy Halloween!

The sky opens up tonight and down comes our first snow. I see the space of air swirling between the swaths of white. I am not ready for this, I think. Just not yet. Later, okay. The boys tromp around and come inside. Then out again. And back in. The cocoa is made, the real kind like my mom makes. Spaces in the heart open up. I think about when I was seven and my sister and my brother lived in a big white house with stained wallpaper. Think there were pictures of teapots and flowers on that wallpaper. The hubby calls and he will be late. But it's fine because this soup gets better if it cooks longer. I feel ragged. I feel swell. I think about heaven and hell and how it is all so weird to categorize a life after like that. Here I am and I am in love with people and if I don't like someone, well I will eventually because it is my nature to try and try to make it all right, to hope beyond hope, at least inside my heart. And hell doesn't belong to anyone. Nor does heaven. Those are a fool's gambles. More spaces open up in my mind. There's a little Nick Drake on the player now. Before that, The Clash. The soup is too watery, so I mix in some potatoes, flour and water. And butter. I think good thoughts because that all goes in there too with the ingredients. I think of Rakel and how I love her. Darling. And now... there's another space and it is for me to step into. The night opens up and soon I'll be sleeping in it with some dreams, a jumble of me of you of friends from long ago of soup of spiders of kisses of snow of boys of husband of love of....

"Findings"

"Space and spaces"

Forest.

Freidlein Prairie hike

Freidlein Prairie hike

Freidlein Prairie hike

Freidlein Prairie hike

Happy.

Freidlein Prairie hike

Drawn.

"Alone and together we travel", October sketch

"Alone and together we travel", October sketch

"Rusting notion of yester"

"Germination"

Too many words with very little meaning to me to explain how I feel on this day. I can only think back to experiences and let it pour over me... what I've seen. Yesterday I celebrated my son's fifth birthday. Today I've been married for 16 years. It's a lot to me.

Working with a completely new palette was very exciting. This is a new painting titled "Scape for perseverance". It is 18 1/4" x 17" and created in watercolor, India ink and pastel. The idea of white spaces bumped around in my head for a couple of days, but I didn't know how that would come together. I often don't plan out a painting... unless it is an actual assignment. The spontaneity of allowing color to appear in its time is the stuff of heaven, I think, for many artists. It is for me, anyway.

"Scape for perseverance"

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"Scape for perseverance"

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I'm not a Luddite, nor am I fond of ludditic kinds of extremism... I do embrace the wonders of new invention, technology, new medicine, our generation, right now. I think it is important to be in touch with where the world is heading and not drown in some romantic vision of what was. That being said, to swing to the other extreme would be a travesty also. I like to think about the genetic and evolutionary imprint that shapes life now. There is a collective subconsciousness to respect. How does this new world we live in merg or integrate with an older ancestral, spiritual, cultural, mythological fabric of humanity?

This is a new painting finished today. "I specter you machine", 12 1/4" x 8 1/4", watercolor, India ink and pastel. Also can see this at http://charmagnecoe.com.

"I specter you machine"

"I specter you machine"

I have become inundated with, with... LIFE. Whoaaaaa. Getting used to the preschool schedule and driving back and forth and raising a two and four year old keeps me on my toes. Something so simple and yet so rewarding we do as a family is hiking in our Coconino Forest. It is a treasure to us. I know how fortunate we are to live here when I breathe in the woods.

Lamar Haines Trail

Nature is where I find a pure form of spirit, god, transcendence, connection. It is also where my boys find themselves and can be wild and yet, I sense that quiet stillness within them. There is where I go to church and am rejuvenated.

Lamar Haines Trail

Lamar Haines Trail - nature shots

Lamar Haines Trail - nature shots

Lamar Haines Trail - nature shots

Lamar Haines Trail - nature shots

Here is some black and white work from my sketchbook. Some from home and some from the road.

sketches from September

sketches from September

sketches from September

sketches from September

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sketches from September

Really like this little video for the song, "Until the earth begins to part" by Broken Records. If you're a fan of stop-motion animation like I am, you'll see what I mean. Plus, 4AD as a label is seriously cool.

Take care, y'all.
C

I have to say it. I am just so weary of Flagstaff right now. Okay. There it is. It's only probably because I haven't seen the outsides of this town for like ever. (All you Flagstaffians, it's nothing personal.) When I was a teenager, I didn't really yen to travel. Then in my twenties, on the pushy and persuasive urging of a good friend, I got a Eurail pass and haven't been the same since. Now, my legs are jonesing like mad to hop onto a train or a plane and just gooooooooo. I want the weight of my kids in my arms and luggage and crowds and languages that are unfamiliar and my partner-in-crime hubby who never gets lost and my traveling eyes to set out on some sort of adventure. Everything feels too familiar. Everyone knows my name. That is a nice feeling 95% of the time. I'm in the 5% right now.

This week, home-body, dreamy, disillusioned, inner-emotional, quiet, cuddling and listening for something....

"My dearest informed, viscera and water"

"My dearest informed, viscera and water" 10" x 10 1/4", watercolor, India ink and pastel.

"My dearest informed, viscera and water"

Hello, Everyone. What a pleasant summer-ending we're having... I have great news! The following is a painting which was chosen for an illustration in Utne Reader Sept/Oct 2009. It is: "Current", 16 3/4" x 14", watercolor, India ink and pastel. It accompanies a beautifully poignant story by Ona Gritz of a woman living with cerebral palsy. What a pleasure it is to be chosen and to work with such a fantastic magazine. It should be on the newsstand now.

The current web

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Our little garden flourishes. It's fun to look out the window to see the little boys foraging all on their own. Though it was my learning summer, I've had some good successes and we're munching our veggies in all kinds of recipes. Thumbs up: chives, squash, yellow pencil pod beans, snap peas, radishes, lavendar, basil, sage, savory, coriander/cilantro, country thyme, mixed red lettuces. Thumbs down:  bok choy, cucumber, hot peppers. Still awaiting final verdict: tomatoes, pumpkin, Parisian carrots and stars and moon watermelon. Still, our best chives are in Jas and Lucas' ragamuffin garden, along with the overgrowing parsley. Hiking has taking us to the lower Hart Prairie of San Francisco Peak and other local, ferned spots in Flagstaff. We soak it all up before that big snow season hits. We love to discover new critters or sometimes it is them discovering us! Speaking of snow season, the weather is letting us know that fall is approaching. With that, I can feel the baking instincts set in. Something I've really wanted to be better at is baking bread, so last week I went for it and decided on two white loaves and a French bread. This week, wheat. It is really a lot more fun than I remembered. And that smell! I think the scent embodies love.

little morning visit

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bits of summer

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family hiking

family hiking

now that's a big zucchini!

Ciao-ciao.

Here is a new illustrative piece titled "The little journey", approx 12" x 8", watercolor, ink and pastel.

"The little journey"

"The little journey", detail

and the old sketch:

boys sketch from a while back

So I'm sure you know just who I was thinking of when I made these, eh? It's true. My little guys. Lately, I am reconsidering my process by using firstly, ink. Then watercolor, then another layer of heavier India ink, in order to get more contrast and finer detail... as I achieve in the drawing/preliminary sketching process. Always tinkering, trying to make small adjustments for improvement. We'll see how that works. I'm surprised at how little I like Arches coldpress fine watercolor paper these days... It just doesn't hold up for lots of washes, I should go for the more weighty 300lb and see if that will be better. Lately, I really dig Fabriano coldpress. The perfect tooth to hold the pastel, but not so much that I can't get good ink lines.

We are sort of recovering from some nasty flu bugs that have made the rounds... took me two weeks to get it, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. Phew. Sniffle. Here is something that made me very happy... food from the garden! Our first real salad of picked personal produce. Baby red lettuce and chives. I served it with a homemade dressing of mustard, orange juice, mayo, salt, vinegar, agave nectar, dash of salt and pepper

straight from the garden

So, we haven't traveled far, as our noses and joints have been out of sorts, but I'm hoping next weekend to get out for a good, healthful hike near the San Francisco Peaks. If I do, I'll post some pics.