Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument
11" x 14"  Oil
This piece is temporarily "on hold" as it is a Mini Winner in "Paint the Parks."  It will be in several exhibitions in 2013.  Will keep you posted!

Hovenweep National Monument is on the border of Colorado and Utah with entrances from both states.  The four-corner area is filled with National Parks and Monuments showing villages and life from times past.  This is from a trip my husband and I took.  I loved the early morning light on the ruins.

Distant Light

Distant Light
18" x 24"  Oil
$595.00 + $20. s/h

SOLD

I loved the way the distant canyon was lit up with the afternoon sun light.

While in Moab my husband and I hiked to Corona Arch (it is not in the National Parks.)  It was a fun, but challenging hike, and I took lots of photos.  And, here are some of them:

Much of the hike was across canyons.  There are cairns along the trail so you don't wander off the trail.

At one point we had to climb up this ladder to continue.  (It's bolted onto the top of the cliff.)

This is Corona Arch from about 1/2 mile away.  The little dots below and near it are people.

This arch is before Corona Arch.

Here's Corona Arch from very close.  I don't know how this girl could have rappelled 

from it!!  I plan on sticking to hiking and painting!

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Canyonlands After The Rain

Canyonlands After The Rain
18" x 24" Oil
$595.00 + 20. s/h

SOLD

Our first day in Utah was cold (39 degrees) and rainy.  Because of that the next day gave us Maynard Dixon clouds.

Canyonlands National Park is very appropriately named.  Around every bend in the road and across every vista is another incredible canyon.  Here are a few:

Plein Air Moab

Late Afternoon On The Colorado
11" x 14" Oil
$295.00 + $10. s/h

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Moab, Utah.  It is an incredibly beautiful location and should be on every one's bucket list.  It's like Disneyland for the outdoorsman with 2 National Parks (Arches and Canyonlands), hiking, touring, mountain biking, river rafting, 4 wheeling, ATVing, OTVing, so many photo ops;  the list goes on and on.  

Moab is about 7 hours from Colorado Springs.  We took 1 1/2 days to travel each way stopping numerous times.  

While there I participated in part of the 2nd annual "Plein Air Moab."  It's a week long event where artists can paint within a 50 mile radius and be involved in 3 Quick Draw paint outs.  This was my location, and painting, for the first Quick Draw which was held at the Red Cliffs Lodge Winery which sits along the Colorado River. 

 The event was from 3:00 - 6:00.  At 2:45 there was a line to get your canvas stamped.  By 6 you had to be back in line with your painting framed.  When they said "quick" they were right!  When plein air painting you have to capture the light and shadow at a particular moment and not change it.  You don't want to chase the light.

Every where that you looked was a painting waiting to happen!

Owochomo Bridge

18" x 24" oil on stretched canvas
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This is another piece from our trip to Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah.  Owachomo Bridge is the 3rd bridge while driving through the park (the road heads you in one direction.)  This was the easiest bridge to reach, just a short walk from the parking lot.  Owachomo means "rock mound" in Hopi.

As I've done for several of my recent large pieces, I started this w/ a value study in sketch and wash pencil.  

I then did a value study in oil using transparent oxide red w/ a little ultramarine blue for the darkest shadows.  I used these 2 studies, and several photos, for the final painting.  The hardest part of the final piece was the foreground.  In my studies, I just roughed this area in very loosely.  I should have paid a little more attention, as the foreground area is about 9" x 18", bigger than many of my whole paintings.
 

This is the start of the trail.  It may look like it goes off the edge, but it's really a gentle, short walk.

My painting is from the bottom, far-side of this bridge.

Canyonland Values

16" x 20" oil on stretched canvas
Please contact me if interested

This is another piece from Canyonlands National Park, Utah.  I would say that we've gotten our money's worth out of our annual National Park Pass.  My husband has used it 11 times; I've been to 7 parks this year.

I've really been working to be aware of values.   It's so easy to just darken the darks, and lighten the lights.  I used to tell my students that painting was like doing the laundry (darks and lights.)  But, then I realized that most middle school students didn't do their own laundry, so that didn't mean much to them.  Anyway, w/in the darks, there are lots of different colors in the same value range.  The same is true of the lights.  In this piece, I wanted the center of interest and focal point to be the canyon on the right, but I worked the most on the shadow values in the front.

The southwest is filled with pictographs and petroglyphs.  This wall of petroglyphs is Newspaper Rock, on the south side of the Park.

If you click on this picture you can read about the ancient rocks.

Kachina Bridge

8" x 10" oil on board
$195.00 + $10. s/h
please contact me if interested

This is another painting from Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah.

It was  about a 2 mile trail down to the bottom of the canyon.  Part of it was down these stairs built into the side of the cliff.  I was unable to make it down the Sipapu Bridge Trail.  It was not much longer, but much more challenging.  I made it along the trail that was precariously on the side of the cliff w/ no guard rails; I made it down the metallic stair case that was bolted into the side of the cliff; but, when it came to climbing down a two story ladder made of tree trunks, my fear of heights took over.  Yes, it was bolted into the cliff, but I couldn't get down it.  I've climbed up a 2 story ladder at Mesa Verde; but there was something about stepping over and down that held me back.  So, we hiked the other 2 trails instead.

To give some perspective to the size of these bridges, here I am!  Looking back at this photo I see I made the foreground a little more red/orange.  Maybe I'll warm it up a bit.

Natural Bridges National Monument

8" x 10" oil on gessoed masonite
$195.00 + $10. s/h
please contact me if interested

My husband and I recently visited Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah.  As I've posted before, the National Parks in Utah are unbelievable.  There are so many of them; they're so large and scenic. If you want to just drive through them, or hike, or paint, or 4-wheel, or see the geology, or archeology, there really is something for everyone.   Utah should be on everyone's bucket list.  Anyway, Natural Bridges Park has 3 large bridges.  This is a view of Kachina Bridge from the bottom of the canyon.  Even though it is massive, it is considered the youngest of the 3 bridges because of the thickness of its span.

I did a quick value study of this with a "Sketch & Wash" pencil.   The graphite in these is "washable", so when done shading, you wash over it w/ water  to exaggerate the values.

It's hard to get the feel of how big these bridges really are.  These boulders resulted from a rock fall in 1992, when approximately 4,000 tons of rock broke off the bridge.

The bridge is named for the Kachina dancers that play a central role in Hopi religious tradition.

Monument Valley IV

6" x 6" oil on gessoed masonite

$100.00 + $10. s/h

please contact me if interested

Do you remember those tv commercials where the pick-up was sitting on top of the monolith?  You wondered how they got it up there.  I, with my fear of heights wondered how the driver could be up there!  Those commercials, and many movies were filmed at Monument Valley.  It's amazing when you see the rock formations from far away, and even more amazing when you get close-up.  

The pictures below show some of the petroglyphs in the back area of Monument Valley.  Some are protected with a fence, some you can drive right up to.

Monument Valley III

 

5" x 7"  oil on gessoed masonite

$100.00 + $10. s/h

please contact me if interested

One of the great things about being an artist is that you take what you see, whether it be a landscape, still life or figure, and put down your feelings toward that and share it with others.  It would be hard for me to paint something well if I didn't feel something for that.  I paint a lot of landscapes because I love the out of doors.

Monument Valley is a place that when you visit you are so awed by your surroundings.  Yes, it's bleak, but it is impressive, amazing, breathtaking.

When we retired our son gave us the book "501 Must See Destinations".  Monument Valley is one of those destinations. "It is the quintessential desert landscape defining the American West."

Monument Valley II

5" x 7" oil on gessoed masonite
$100.00 + $10. s/h
please contact me if interested

With this study I toned the bottom half of the panel with violet and the top half with yellow ochre.  Normally I tone the whole canvas in yellows/oranges.  But, wanted to see what the earth would look like with a different tone peeking through.  I like the result.

Monument Valley is on the border of Utah and Arizona on the Navajo Nation.  You can drive yourself around the front of the area, but we wanted to go back deep into the Navajo Tribal Park (30,000 acres), so took a 3 hour tour with a local Navajo.  This way we got to see the incredible geologic formations, monoliths, petroglyphs, and pictographs.  We also got an insight into their present day lifestyle and cultural history.

Monument Valley

5" x 7" oil on gessoed masonite

$100.00 + $10. s/h

please contact me if interested

On our trip through Utah in November we went to Monument Valley, which is famous for it's rock formations and the many movies filmed there.  I kept expecting John Wayne to ride up at any minute!  (John Ford filmed several westerns there.) I know people who are unfamiliar with the west, or who haven't been here,  put all the separate states in one big category "the west".  But, each state has it's own beauty, it's own geology, it's own colors.  The colors of Monument Valley, which is southern  Utah and northern Arizona are very different from the colors here in Colorado.

I started this series with small color studies to help me see the differences.  The winter colors there are very grayed and muted.  I've really found it inspiring to mix all these "new" color notes.  Traveling is a real opportunity to see so much.

Deep Shadows

12" x 16" oil on stretched canvas
$395.00 + $10. s/h
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I was drawn to the deep shadow that spread across the canyon bottom and the back of the valley.  Additionally, I thought about the cool, not quite melted snow on the shadowy side and the warm, sunny rocks and tips of the scrubby plants  in the light.  This piece gave me lots of landscape challenges: warms and cools, grays and earth tones, sun and shadow.

I tend to push my colors and really tried to stick with realistic notes in this piece.  As Kevin Macpherson says, I tried to "See it, mix it, put it down.  Be decisive."

Canyonlands V

6" x 8" oil on panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
Please contact me if interested

This is another small piece from our trip in November to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. With the holidays and both kids visiting, I'm just now getting it posted.

I had some daily paintings in a fall show at a local Nature Center. Several of them sold and this morning I decided it was time to update that part of my blog. I'm not sure why, but when I did this, emails went out each time I edited the past blogs. Maybe it was a senior moment on my part, maybe something's going on w/ blogger. I'm not sure, but sorry about that. Is anyone else having this problem? Did I do something wrong? And, thanks to those of you who emailed me about the sales.

Canyonlands IV

6" x 8" oil on panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
SOLD

This is from our second day at Canyonlands National Park. We were in an area where you walked along the edge of this cliff. For those of you who know me well, you know I have a fear of heights. I had to really breath deeply, walk slowly, look across and not down, to conquer my phobia. I will admit, that where I stopped here, there was a guard rail!

When landscape painting, the lightest value is usually that of the sky. The second lightest value is the flat plane of the ground....except the ground at the bottom of a canyon appears to have a darker value than the horizontal plane near the top of a canyon. These canyon pieces have gotten me thinking about all the values in a landscape. I even got out my Carlson's guide to see if he talked about canyons.

Canyonlands III

6" x 8" oil on panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
please contact me if interested

This is another piece from our recent trip to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. I'm trying to be aware of color temperatures and values. Granted, snow is cold, and the temperature was in the 30's, but snow can be warm or cool depending on if it's in the sun or shade. The same is true of rocks, or anything in a landscape. I tried to make sure that in adjusting for the color temperatures, I'm keeping true to the values. It helps to do a value sketch first.

I was asked in a comment what colors I use to tone my canvases. Usually I use cad yellow deep, yellow ochre, or cad orange. Sometimes a combination of two. And, sometimes red. I'll often tone 6 - 10 canvases at the same time.