Grand Falls - AZ

Grand Falls is about 40 miles out of Flagstaff on the Navajo Reservation. The falls are seasonal, flowing from snow runoff in early spring and during summer monsoon rains. They were amazing! Looks like chocolate falls.

Recent New Oil Paintings - Getting ready for the Phippen Show



Here are a couple hand-fulls of new oil paintings! The Annual Phippen Museum Western Art Show adn Sale is coming up at the end of May and I find the need to create new paintings just for this show. For the first time ever, I signed up to do the Quick Draw event. This is an exciting event where artists have 60 minutes to complete a painting with an audience watching, followed immediatly by a live auction to benefit the musuem. This event brings a lot of buzz to the art show! Just like the quick draw cowboys of the wild west, I need to practice to speed up my reaction time. Just today, I completed a 9x12 oil in 60 minutes. I still need to be faster, it's different when painting in front of a crowd and the pressure is more intense. Here are the new oils:

"West Fork's Ballad" 10x16 palette knife

"Sunset from Yavapai Point" 12x17, palette knife and brush combo

"Brins Mesa Shadows" 12x17

"From Bright Angel Trail" 12x17 oil

"Winter's Fading Light" 5x7

"Winter Sunrise at Bright Angel" 12x17 palette knife

"Winter's Light" 9x12

"Winter at Shoshone Point" 5x7

"Sunset at Powell Point" 6x8

"Winter's Grand Sunrise" 5x7

Phippen Show, May 2013

I was once again juried into to the Phippen Museum's 39th Annual Western Art Show and Sale over Memorial Day wekeend, May 25-27. Find me at booth #70 and see what's new and exciting!

Two Panoramic Grand Canyon Sunsets

These to panoramas were done by stitching photos together. The first is a two image compliation, the second one is from five images. Enjoy!

Sunset from Hopi Point 1/11/13

Sunset from Hopi Point 1/11/13

Winter at the Grand Canyon

My wife Denise and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary by freezing ourselves to ice blocks at the Grand Canyon. The temps were a high of 26 and a low of -6. When the wind blew, it felt every bit that ice cold. We reserved a cute little cabin with the Bright Angel Lodge for two nights, luckily the electric base heaters worked well. We arrived mid afternoon and snowshoed to Shoshone Point. After checking into our cabin, we drove west to Hopi Point for the sunset. It was spectacular! (and really cold) Saturday, we awoke early enough to watch the sunrise. Yep, I was amazed (and frozen). Later, we went for a short hike down Bright Angel Trail, not so windy inside the Canyon. After lunch, we snowshoed to a fire lookout tower east of Grandview Point. What an unusual view, we felt like birds (it was windy up in that tower, so we turned to ice once again). We stopped at Grandview Point on the way back and returned to our cabin to thaw out. We caught the sunset at Yavapai Point, another beautiful sight and very cold. I enjoyed the weekend just fine. The park was quiet and the sights more varied from when I normally visit the Grand Canyon. I picked the following 20 something photos from over 500 images captured. Take a look:

from Yavapai Pt.

Sunset from Yavapai Pt.

early morning

sunset from Hopi Pt.

sunrise

sunset from Hopi Pt.

sunset from Hopi Pt.

from Yavapai Pt.

amazing contrast

from Yavapai Pt.

at the Yavapai Pt. Geological Museum

snowshoeing in the woods

sunset from Yavapai Pt.

a dallop of light

California Condor

at Shoshone Pt.

along the way to Shoshone Pt.

sunset from Yavapai Pt.

from the fire lookout tower

unknown hiker at Bright Angel Trail

from Bright Angel Trl.

view from the fire lookout tower

lookout studio bathed in morning light

on the edge

New paintings to finish off a productive 2012

"Morning Glory II" 9x12 oil, palette knife - This was inspired from a photograph I took during a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon in early November. I hope to combine a couple more studies on this spot into a larger painting!

"West Fork Cairn" 16x20 oil, palette knife - The fall colors were vibrant and the reflections glowing. The rock cairn caught my eye as a nice foreground element.

"Morning Glory" 9x11 oil, palette knife - A study for a future larger painting.

"Winter Melody" 8x10 oil, palette knife - sold as a comission, part of a series of 4 season paintings

"West Fork Solitude" 16x20 oil, palette knife - An awe inspiring place of sculpted rock and possibilities for peaceful solitude.

Red Rock Craving

Do you ever have a craving for red rock? Well, that's the ailment I had today and the reason for a quick drive over to Sedona for a five mile hike on Soldiers Pass and Brins Mesa Trails. It was a great day to be out, no crowds, sunny... But the wind kept things chilly and dusty. Otherwise, my red rock craving was filled for now. Check it out: