This article is written by Gloria Malouf-Marsh

This scene captures a Spanish/Mexican feel.  The countryside has rolling hills, scenic mountain sides and glorious vivid and bright colours of the rich culture of life, fire, and courage.

New Mexico is a Spanish colonial living history site. It boasts beautiful parks, river valleys, scenic mills and historic buildings dotting the countryside. It is so scenic… ranging from Westerns to Civil War sagas, have been filmed there.

I started this composition using crimson red and I used a sponge dabber, which managed to spread across the whole canvas. I found the base, red colour off set the blue clouded sky and enriched the breadth of the frame.  I deliberately did not use perfect cloud formation in the sky, as I wanted to create my own shading and composition.

At first, I sketched a rough outline of my subject matter, the mountains where they started. The shadowing of the mountains added perspective. I concentrated on the two houses, the road just off the middle, and last of all, the fence. The fan brush was used to create the grass spikes. This added more depth. With the fence wires, I applied a silver fine pen to the wires so the fence line would be a feature of the painting.

Bright colour brings boldness and character to any subject matter and also reflects the rich colours of the countryside. These colours enliven the artist within and shape takes form.

The foliage of the trees and colour combined, orange/yellow, brown and gold were dabbing effects.  I used the deer brush for this application. I felt this brought a sense of balance and especially the semi-circle shape below the mountain range and undulating hills. The two houses had a hacienda feel.

Acrylic painting is ever so forgiving. I believe this is the way to go if you are a beginner. I take more risks now. I begin a painting with a bright coloured background and kick starts the imagination to take risks.  This boosts one’s confidence. I have been amazed with the outcome and end result.

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My name is Gloria Malouf-Marsh. I live in Brisbane, Australia, in a very leafy suburb called Indooroopilly.  I live with my husband Greg and my daughter Salwa. Among my many interest are, singing, playing the piano, cooking, doing voluntary work and studying Ayurveda and Taoism.  I’m a Yoga Chi Gung Teacher.

In December of last year, our beagle Cassie died from cancer.  She’s sorely missed by us all, but I do very much miss our times together when I’d be painting away.

Beagles are very loyal, loving and caring dogs.

My husband and I have not long returned from three weeks in Vietnam.  The highlight of our trip was Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a UNESCO Heritage site, and is surrounded by limestone mountain formations. We went on a cruise for 3 days, and I was in awe of this amazing place. We had a wonderful time. It really is a special place to visit.

The weather in Brisbane is glorious in winter. We are very spoiled with sunny days, clear blue skies, and the weather is very conducive for applying the brush on canvas.

I have enjoyed painting this art contribution of Santa Fe very much.  It’s amazing how much confidence we acquire after practicing daily with the brush, doing any form of Mixed Media art creations.  Motivation is the word of paramount importance for me, in being creative. I, sometimes find excuses with trying to always be creative, working my imagination, tracing, stenciling, drawing, etc…So, I say there are no excuses, but to continue and prod dry patches. I’m the one to encourage myself not to lapse into excuses.

Enjoy and create something from nothing.

Emails are welcome

My email is: gloria@radiantpathways.com.au

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