Sunday, January 24, 2010

One More Time


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

For me, painting the same subject matter several times is a great lesson.  I tried not to compare the three sky holes as I painted them to see how similarly the values and colors were mixed.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Another View


5" x 7" oil on gessoed masonite
$100.00 + $10. s/h
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Really focusing in on the rock wall is a great value study lesson.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Monument Valley Sky Hole




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

The natural forces of wind, rain and temperature have spent the last 50 million years cutting and peeling away the surfaces of the Monument Valley plateau.  These forces have created incredible geologic formations.  There were several of these sky holes in the valley.  They seemed like such a great painting. I've painted canyon walls, canyon vistas, small rocks, and now sky holes.  Am I painting the sky holes or the canyon wall very close up?














Wednesday, January 20, 2010

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.











Saturday, January 16, 2010

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."






Thursday, January 14, 2010

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.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

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.



Monday, January 11, 2010

Right Before Dinner


6" x 6" oil on gessoed masonite
$100.00 + $10. s/h
please contact me if interested

These squash were sitting on the counter, just rinsed and waiting to be sliced.  I thought they'd make a great painting before they became part of our dinner.

Friday, January 8, 2010

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."

Monday, January 4, 2010

William Merritt Chase

















This is my submission for Michelle Burnett's Following the Master's blog.  William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) is my favorite American Impressionist.  I admire his use of color and his painterly brushstrokes.  He frequently painted his children (8) and wife in their Brooklyn, New York home and neighborhood as well as in Shinnecock, Long Island.