MORE CANYON DE CHELLY

"Reflected Light" 12" x 16" oil/linen

I can't get enough of Canyon De Chelly.
I'm going to have to force myself to paint
something else for a while. I don't
know what's more compelling...the
immediate depth of field you get
because of the overlapping canyons,
the terrific range of color and values or
how much light gets bounced back up into
a canyon wall. Its plain to see what
caught my eye on this one.

This is a larger version of the plein air
piece I did on location. Gotta say I am
pretty pleased with myself.

FIRST OF 2010

"In and Out of Shadows" 24" x 30" oil/canvas

I have dedicated myself to producing
more large paintings in 2010 and posting
more often. Of course that depends
on how many dog days I have in the
studio. I'm hoping to hit a stride and
crank out the best work so far.
We'll see...its still early.

This scene is from my trip to Arizona.
These bluffs stretch for about twenty
miles along the highway. You could
stop just about anywhere along this
stretch and find something to paint.

I've described before how the light
is constantly changing and you have to
pick your battle...so to speak. Well
its worse when you do a scene like this
one where there is one set of rumbling
clouds after another lighting and
darkening segments of the scene at
different times. Ah...the digital camera. What
a good friend it has become with its
large view finder on the back.

LAST PAINTING OF 2009

"Catch It While You Can" 10" x 20" oil/c

Christmas has come and gone. I'm taking
the rest of the week to create
a few larger pieces. I am finding
this elongated format to be an exciting
one. This was one of those days where
the clouds are moving real fast and
the light patterns are constantly changing.


You look down at your palette to mix
paint for an area you think is in shadow
only to look up and find the same area
basking in bright sunlight. You mentally
have to commit to the scene and keep
it logged in as you paint and then ignore
the constantly changing light patterns.

It pays to have practiced the quick block
in back in the studio. It also helps to do
a quick pencil sketch where you indicate
shadow patterns or a digital shot with
the camera with a large viewer you can
refer to while you paint.

WESTERN ART COLLECTOR

My painting "Near Panther Creek"
was featured in the December issue
of Western Art Collector magazine.
The painting was part of an article
promoting the Plein Air Southwest
show which is now hanging at Southwest
Gallery here in Dallas.

click here to see show

PLEIN AIR SOUTHWEST

"Pigeon Highrise" 12" x 16" oil/c

Heading out of Amarillo on your way to
New Mexico are a series of historical
grain elevators. Most have been replaced
but a few remain. I hope we never lose them.












"Navajo Fortress: 10" x 20" oil/c

Where the Navajo tribe made its final
stand against the U.S. Calvary.
















"Near Panther's Creek" oil/c 9" x 12"

Big Bend National Forest






















"Elena Canyon" 9" x 12" oil/c

This weekend is the culmination
of a year-long paint-out. There were
four paint-outs held in different locations.
In order to participate in the juried show
you had to at least make one of the
paint-outs. I made two. I went to Big Bend
National Park here in Texas and
Canyon De Chelly in Arizona.

I have entered four paintings into the
competition. Tomorrow Gay Faulkenbery
will be judging the show and the awards
will be presented at the opening tomorrow
night.

Saturday Kaye Franklin, Fran Eliisor
and I will be doing demos during the show.
I haven't decided what to demo yet. Guess
I need to be making a decision.

FRESH OF THE EASEL

"Washout Patterns" 22" x 28" oil/c

Fresh of the easel ten minutes ago. This
is one of my entries for the Paint America
competition. I hope to get another one
done before the December 1st deadline.

Canyon De Chelly is well known for the flash
floods that fill the bottom of the canyon.
Unfortunately when I was there in
September we had no rain so the standing
water in the painting is made up.

This is the first of several large Canyon
paintings I will be doing this year. The subject
matter is so interesting with all of the
overlapping canyon patterns and reflected
light bouncing everywhere.

I can see why it became a favorite
subject for Edgar Payne.

COLLECTORS COVEY SHOW RESULTS

Last Friday was the Collectors Covey Miniature
Show. A good crowd was on hand, better than
last year I might add. Buyers were more than
pleased with the overall quality of the show.















The warm atmosphere of the gallery
provides ample opportunity for artists to
mingle with buyers. I found the collectors
to be most approachable and more than
willing to discuss their likes and dislikes
of pieces.

I also had plenty of time to talk to artists
that I admire like Ken Carlson and
Luke Frazier. Of course looking at great art
is the main attraction. Where else can you
go in north Texas and see Clyde Aspevig,
Matt Smith, Len Chimel, Kyle Sims and
Frank Serrano?
















They say "you are known by the company
you keep". If that's true then I'm in pretty
good company. My painting is the one in
the middle on the right. The two paintings
on the left are both Clyde Aspevig's.