9th Annual Employee Art Show

I am participating in our 9th Annual Employee Art Show at the Frame & I Gallery.  You are invited to join us for our reception during the 4th Friday Art Walk, October 22, 6-8pm.  See you there!

Secret Canyon

Today, my wife Denise and I went to Sedona to hunt down some fall colors.  What better place to find them than in Secret Canyon?  We were a little early for peak fall colors, but we were pleased with the color we found.  The secret about this place is that it is not crowded.  We only saw four other people the whole time.  Maybe it is the 3.3 miles of rough road to drive to the trailhead and the 8-10 mile round trip hike.  Either way, we enjoyed the cool shade of Secret Canyon and the contrast of red rock to vibrant green and yellow foliage.  I really should work on my thesis but this seemed more exciting, so I thought to get this distraction out of the way before getting back to writing.  I have the hardest time writing about my own artwork, not how I did it or what the subject is, rather, what are my intentions and objectives for making art.  I've got to dig deep and get to the point instead of floundering around.  I think I will start with some freewriting....  Enjoy these pictures, but you must keep this place a secret.

The photo above almost looks like an Eliot Porter, one of my favorite color photographers.  Click on this link to see my all time favorite Eliot Porter photo: http://www.cartermuseum.org/collections/porter/collection.php?asn=P1990-51-4079-1&mcat=3&scat=11

Fossil Creek Day Hike

I took a break from schoolwork to be refreshed by the beauty of Fossil Springs.  I was last here about five years ago and since then, the dam has been demolished to the normal creek flow level.  This was part of an effort to make the creek wild again.  The tempature of the water was warm enough to swim in the 85 degree weather.  Such a perfect day to be there, not too many people.  Although we did see our share of folks.  I was warned that since Fossil Creek was publicized as a wilderness area, it became much more popular to visit.  Hence, more trash was visible, yet not as much as I was fearing.  Maybe the rains from earlier in the week had washed the trash out.  I was disturbed to see the trash and wonder what goes through people's heads when they choose to leave litter when they so willingly carried down to that point.  Has the litter become that much heavier?  It is a four mile hike and many that hike this trail are not prepared for the potential hot climb out.  We hiked out in the late afternoon and just made it out as the first stars appeared in the sky.  The air was cool and once in a while a warm draft of air would raise from the canyon below.  We were about a mile from the trailhead on the way up, when we saw three young teenagers making their way down, carrying their bedding and food by hand, in duffle bags.  Sheesh, what next?  They will regret having to haul their stuff up on the way up.  Builds character, right?  I don't see this hike as difficult but it can be in the blazing/hot sun during summer months.  An ill prepared hiker puts themselves in danger by not having enough water.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the hike.  Enjoy! 

Surprise!! More Grand Canyon images.

I had a little spare time to go through some photos I took last May from Shoshone Point.  I am looking forward to doing this more often, looking through my photos, editing them and thinking about sketching them for possible oil paintings.  I have been very busy lately writing my thesis, and I have just sent in my first draft to a couple readers for imput.  Cross you fingers nothing is drastically wrong with my writing.  I've spent so much time on it already and know I must still revise it to perfection by the end of November.  I anxiously await spending more time on my artwork and less time on schoolwork starting January 2011! 

Sketches

Cedar Ridge

From Hermit Trail

From Hermit Trail II

Kaibab Juniper

from Kaibab Trail

Here are the charcoal sketches I mentioned in my last post.  I worked from photographs, using about a one-inch piece of compressed charcoal.  Each drawing measures about 12x10 inches.  The idea behind doing this step is to extract the essence of the place from the photo.  A photo often shows too much to be used in a painting.  I've found a lot of my creativity is lost by working directly from a photo, losing myself in trying to copy exact colors and details.  A painting should be filtered through me, to become a landscape painting that communicates my perception of the place.   I then paint directly from these sketches, making up the color as I remembered seeing it in person.  The sketches serve as a value study and a place to experiment with different designs, like moving a tree slightly or darkening a certain area.  To me this is an exciting part of creativity where I can use my imagination!

Oil Studies

9x12, Hermit Trail Study

16x20, Kaibab Juniper Study

9x12, Kaibab Study

8x10 Cedar Ridge Study (Kaibab Trail)

These are oil studies that became part of my big painting posted earlier on this blog.  They are done from charcoal sketches from photographs I took on two different hikes last winter and spring.  I hiked the Kaibab and Bright Angel Trail the first weekend of March and the Hermit Trail during the first weekend of April.  The charcoal sketches I did served to extract from the photos the essence of the scene, not worrying about every detail.  I will post some of the sketches as part  of my next posting.  I took these sketches into my studio and used them as a direct source for these oil studies.  I made up the colors in these studies, not looking at the photos again.  I wanted to create a painting using more of my imagination, drawing from my experiences when I was hiking and thinking on how I remembered how it looked, not how the photograph looks.  I used a palette knife to paint these.  I painted five different scenes in 8x10, re-worked them in 9x12, and chose two to paint at 16x20 before I began the big painting. 

Getting Ready

I am getting ready for my thesis art exhibit coming up in mid November at Prescott College.  Here is a finished framed painting for the show.  The frame is made from alder and milled by my father-in-law.   I stained and finished the frame in a walnut color.  I love the grain of this wood and the outdoors character in brings to my painting.  The next two months of my final semester should fly by with so much going on and so much still to do.  Sorry if I appear to be in a different world, because I am...