FD Retired

oil 10x10 inches FRAMED
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From the Gold King Mine in Jerome, Arizona. All the old relics sit on the side of the mountain just like the rest of the town. I've always liked diagonals.

Jerome's Finest

oil on canvas panel 12x9 inches
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Last spring while driving around Jerome, Arizona with my good friend Martha we spotted this old police car. Jerome is an old mountainside mining town near Sedona, Arizona...and a painter's paradise of junk. The focal point is that red light of course, but I do love the pink structure and the "Ben&Jerry's sky." My paintings are loosening up, which makes me really happy. A few years ago someone looked at my photo realistic watercolors and said, (and I quote), "Once you paint like that you can never loosen up." How irritating!

That-A-Way Truck-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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This old truck in Jerome, Arizona had so much character with that big red arrow...and of course I love painting text, so here it is. It was sitting on the drop-off side of the street (seemed like the whole town was on a cliff!) and the distant valley below showed in the background. Transparent red oxide is perfect for rust, and mixed with ultramarine blue makes a rich black you can swing toward warm or cool. After lunch we followed the big red arrow to the mine and loaded up our cameras with more trucks to paint! Whoopeeee! Can't wait!

Grazing, Chino Hills-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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We'll be heading home from Sedona tomorrow morning. Today we drove up to Jerome, an old mining town, now a funky artsy historical and magical place. Wow! There were a million things to paint, and the sun was out!!! I didn't get a chance to shoot my truck painting so I offer the above painted from a photo on my laptop inside the Sedona Art Center yesterday afternoon when a few of us took refuge from the hail. The reference photo is from hills just a few miles from home. I was painting with Lisa McDill that day when 1800 sheep came over the hill. What a sight!

Our workshop ended today with a great critique from Jennifer. Below you can see my work laid out on a board. All in all, it was a great experience painting in good weather and bad, meeting artists from other parts of the country, and learning from such an accomplished painter.

Slide Rock

I painted this 12x9 in the morning and had to stop abruptly as the thunderstorms and freezing rain hit. I would have made quite a few changes to it, but it was really starting to come down as I quickly packed up. This area is so beautiful, and in the summertime folks slide down the stream and swim in the pools. Maybe I'll work on it more from photos I took. I did use my familiar palette and had a peaceful enjoyable time.

More Fun In Sedona

Ahhh....sunny Sedona! NOT! Temps dipped into the low 40's with wind, frozen rain and a bit of thunder. Exciting! We huddled under an overhang at Slide Rock State Park. Try as I might to get a good value study, the light was changing minute by minute. One painted, one wiped, and one measley color study. If I had been happy with my painting I wonder if I would not have felt so cold. It's all mental. I rehearsed my motto: "Paint a lot of paintings, and some of them will be good."

Martha and Jennifer under the overhang.

Value study #1, color study under changing conditions.

Last study from yesterday with some changes: toned down the barn color, simplified the bushes and lower right corner. Working with an unfamiliar palette is hard. Thinking about sneaking my old colors in! Tomorrow more rain is expected. More fun!

Value & Color Studies- Sedona

Today our workshop session was at a park near Cathedral Rock. It's reportedly the most photographed spot in Northern Arizona and I can see why. The value studies came easier today after yesterday's practice. The trick was to stick to the value study when using color even though the light was changing. Using Jennifer's limited palette is a fun change. We had milder winds and perfect temps. I looked for my plein air snake, but didn't see one. All in all, a fantastic, instructive day. Tomorrow rain is expected...we'll see what happens!

Sedona Plein Air

Today was our first day with Jennifer McChristian. After the morning orientation at Sedona Arts Center we all headed out. The emphasis today was on value studies. Jennifer did a great demo for us and then we spread out to do 3-4 small value studies of our own. This was such a great exercise for me! The biggest challenge was keeping shapes simple, and the wind! It was pretty steady with gusts I would guess around 50-60mph! So we found out it IS possible to paint in the wind. Lots of easels blew over but we carried on. I lost all my turp and painted the last two studies without any. Oh...and I only saw one snake! It was a blast. Below are my studies on a 9x12 divided with tape. I took the photo with the canvas on blacktop. I liked the effect, so didn't edit it out.

Pueblos

oil on canvas panel 16x20 inches

A few years ago Hubby and I visited Sedona and Santa Fe. Somewhere along the road this awesome scene said "Paint me, paint me, paint me!" We pulled into a turnout and took lots of photos. There was so much there already: repetition of shapes, contrast of warm and cool colors, light and shadow...patterns! I thought about leaving out the poles and pipes, but I like verticals for stability. I've "finished" it several times, but this is the final finish. It will be included in my upcoming month long exhibit at the Fontana Steelworkers Auditorium. More info on that later.

I'm framing and packing up for the Old Town Tustin Art Walk and Plein Air Competition. I'll be painting on the streets this Wednesday and Friday, then on Saturday will be selling my work. If you're within driving distance, I hope you'll come out and say hi. There are 35 plein air painters competing! Wish me luck!