"SLOW RISES" 16x20 oil **SOLD**

The month of May is upon us and with it Dix Baines celebrates fifteen years of pursuing his passion for painting as a full-time artist. Often people ask me how in the world I was able to support his pursuit of a profession as an artist, but if truth be told, I was the one who pushed Dix Baines to jump ship as a project manager for an Interior Design firm and move into the art world.

Dix Baines began his career as an artist at an early age, as he was constantly drawing and sketching on any available paper…including his school books.  In fourth grade his Dad sat him down for a “chat” to discuss the drawings that were found on every page of  the textbooks and to encourage him to focus more on math and a whole lot less on a art.  The conversation didn’t take though, as a few years later Dix’s grandmother gave him his first set of oil paints and he was hooked.  In an interview with Sam Curtis for “Big Sky Journal”(http://dixbaines.com/big-sky-journal/) in 2002,  Dix said ”…He remembers painting with those oils and loving the smell of turpentine and linseed oil. Anybody who loves that smell, look out. It can reach up and bite you”.

That love of art and painting in particular simply would not go away and it was a passion that I was well aware of when we married almost thirty years ago in 1982. I thought that the pursuit of art was something one did later in life as a hobby, not as a career.  In my mind it was a retiree’s past time and one that Dix would explore later in life….much later….after working a “real job” and raising our family. I was to soon learn, however, that being an artist was as viable career as being a doctor, lawyer, or teacher and every bit as important…

Read the “rest of the story” in text and pictures as we celebrate Dix Baines’ 15 years in the Studio fulltime by visiting the Dix Baines blog regularly throughout the month of May.- Kathlyn Gogarty-Baines

"Autumn Leaves and Rolling Rocks" 5x7 oil **SOLD**

"First Snow, Autumn Glow" 8x10 oil $1200-Available through McLarry Gallery @ 505.988.1161

"Rolling Rocks" 16x20 oil $3000 -Available through Hayden Hays Gallery @ 719.577.5744

"Blowing Leaves" 24x36 oil $6400-Available through Hayden Hays Gallery @ 719.577.5744

In October last year, Dix and I made a trek through Wyoming to visit our daughter at college.  Of course the camera accompanied us, as it does on every trip, just in case an image presented itself that Dix would have to paint.  Artists are forever on the hunt for images.  As we flew down I-80, Dix informed me that he knew that just outside of Laramie, there was an area he thought would be good to photograph. As we came around the bend, neither of us was prepared with just how extraordinary the view would be!  The clouds had parted and allowed for the sunlight to stream downward and light up the golden aspen leaves.  Everything was lightly dusted with snow!  It couldn’t have been a more perfect view, as the fact that Dix spent two hours photographing it attested!  Here are just a few of the views that Dix Baines painted from those amazing views. –Kathlyn Gogarty-Baines

The month of March has brought with it Dix Baines’ own “March Madness,” as he has traveled to three shows within the course of a few weeks.  From Colorado to Texas….Colorado to Montana….Colorado to Texas….it has been a busy month resulting in one travel weary artist.  It is always worth the travel, however, as so much of art is about meeting the artist who created it and for the artists, meeting the collector.  When a collector purchases a painting, in essence they are collecting the artist.  They are collecting the artist’s perspective on the subject, their narrative on the subject, and in truth a bit on the artist’s soul, that has been laid on the canvas for the world to judge.  -Kathlyn Gogarty-Baines

"The Smell of Sweet Grass" 14x18 oil $2600

This past summer, Dix and I were driving to our son’s wedding in southern Utah. Having driven the I-70 to I-15 route more times than we would like to count, we opted taking a road that took us through Goblin Valley, Capital Reef, and Bryce Canyon. Both Capital Reef and Bryce are National Parks.  We had been to Bryce Canyon years previously, but never to Capital Reef and Goblin Valley.  All three were definitely worth the small road off the interstate.  While driving through Capital Reef, we stumbled upon the  image in the painting “The Smell of Sweet Grass.” It was rather surreal to see this image and reflect that it probably wasn’t much different from images of centuries past. The state of Utah has five National Parks, not to mention numerous State Parks that are well worth visiting.  Go to www.utah.com to  learn more about what the state has to offer.  For artists and travelers a like, the trip through the state is well worth.

This painting is one of five that Dix Baines will have in the upcoming Briscoe Museum’s upcoming 2012 Night of the Artists.  Visit http://www.briscoemuseum.com/night-of-artists/ to learn more about the show and purchase paintings. -Kathlyn Gogarty-Baines

"Runnin Calves" 12x12 oil $1700

"Canoncito" Morning 7x8 **SOLD**

"Canoncito" 6x8 **SOLD**

"Canoncito" 8x10 **SOLD**

"Canoncito" 11x14 $1900

"Dappled Light on Canoncito" 28x32 **SOLD**

Sometimes an image captures the eye of an artist and they are drawn to paint it over and over again in various formats and sizes.  As every completed painting brings the artist to a new place in their creative development, no two paintings can or are exactly the same. Just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico is a beautiful church called Canoncito.  It is an image and a place that draws Dix Baines repeatedly and one that he has visited in paintings from large to small.  Having worked in Interior Design and Architecture for ten years, prior to embarking on a full time career as an artist, architectural images have an added pull.  Images of faith, such as Canoncito, which are monuments to individual’s faith, doubly so.  To date all, but one of Dix Baines’ paintings of Canoncito have sold.  The only one available is the 11×14 “Canoncito” and is currently available through The Hayden Hays Gallery (http://www.haydenhaysgallery.com). - Kathlyn Gogarty-Baine

"Canyon Night" 7x8 **SOLD**

"Saint Francis Night" 7x8 **SOLD**

“As a painter, I’m always chasing the light, trying to capture those nuances of light,”  Dix Baines told Sam Curtis in a  2002 interview for “Big Sky Journal” ( http://dixbaines.com/big-sky-journal/). I did not realize that “chasing the light” did not necessarily mean during the day light hours.  On the particular  evening, where these two painting images were captured, “Canyon Night” and “Saint Francis Night,” I found myself walking the streets of Santa Fe with Dix Baines as he “chased the light.”  ”The color palette of the night hours is vastly different,” or so he told this non-artist, and “so as an artist you are never quite sure what you will get until the painting is complete”. It is a bit of a mystery or like unwrapping a present, or so it seems to me. In my view it must be  a bit intriguing for an artist to “chase the light,” when at first glance there does not seem to be any light and then to be able to capture that image onto the canvas.  -Kathlyn Gogarty-Baines

"Classic New Mexico" 16x42 **SOLD**

Driving with an artist is always interesting and with Dix Baines, even more so as everything he sees is fair game to paint.  We might be riding down a highway and talking, when suddenly mid sentence and a slam of the brakes we are pulling over, making a u-turn and heading in the opposite direction towards a scene that has caught his eye.  This particular scene, “Classic New Mexico” brings back memories of just such an episode.  We had just delivered some new work to McLarry Fine Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico (www.mclarryfineart.com) and were heading back to Denver when  this scene came into view.  Dix expertly flipped the car around, we went driving down a dirt road and the scene was caught with a snap of the camera.  Dix could not wait to get back home and begin painting! – Kathlyn Gogarty-Baines

SHALLOW WATERS oil 24x36 SOLD

Dix Baines began painting on a regular basis in 1994 and by 1997 he was painting full time.  Over the years he has produced a lot of paintings.  In those early years, we were still having paintings photographed and put on slides. Then digital photography started gaining steam. Now all these years later we have a mess of images both in digital and slide form. If the Studio burns down, we are in trouble as a record of all those years of work would be lost.  The goal this year is to get all those images in digital format and uploaded into the “sky” of  internet storage.  In going through all these images, the stories that go along with the paintings are remembered. This particular painting, “Shallow Waters”, has such a memorable story behind it, that I snagged it for our permanent collection.

In 2001 we had the opportunity to take our children on a trip for two weeks to Hawaii. We spent a week in Kauai and enjoyed touring the island and exploring the beaches.  While spending the day at Tunnel beach, on the northern part of the island, our youngest daughter met the dog in this painting. This beautiful golden retriever had tags, but didn’t appear to have an owner close at hand. The pup attached itself  to our daughter and they became long lost friends.  They played  fetch all day and in fact, our daughter named the dog “Shallow”. When it came time to go home, she assumed that Shallow was going home with us.  Shallow did not come home with us, but did make it into this painting. I suspect that when we are long gone, this painting will find it’s way into our daughter’s home, just as Shallow found his way into our daughter’s heart.

–Kathlyn Gogarty-Baines

"First Snow, Autumn Glow" oil 8x10 $1200

Rim Light oil 11x14 $1900

"Shotgun Ranch" oil 8x10 $1200

It is amazing how quickly the months rolls by and suddenly shows that have been on the calendar are here.  Production finishes up, paintings are framed, photographed and shipped off to their destination. This year Dix Baines’  will participate in the Panhandle-Plains Invitational Art Show for the third year.  This will be the first year, however, that he will have the opportunity to join in the festivities and attend the opening Gala. His paintings ”First Snow, Autumn Glow,” “Rim Light,” and ”Shotgun Ranch” will hand along side pantings by Albert Handell, Lorenzo Chavez, and Michael Ome Untiedt. To learn more about the show or to purchase any of these paintings visit http://panhandleplains.org or call 806.651.224.