New Group Show Opens This Friday

GALLERY STROLL

NOVEMBER 17th, 6 - 9 PM

Gallery Stroll and Artist Reception

featuring

Kara Aina, James Gunter, Annie K. Blake,

M'Lisa Paulsen & Jenni Thompson

3295 SOUTH 2000 EAST

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84109

(801) 467-8770

EVERGREENGALLERYSLC@GMAIL.COM

Here's a sample of plein air oil paintings I'll have at the show:

Come visit the show's opening and see these paintings in real life! While you're there, take a look at other paintings and works of art in the gallery. The show will be up for a few weeks, but don't wait - These could be headed for other peoples walls very soon!

Throwback Thursday

Colored Pencil on Paper

This painting goes way back to before I started using oil paints. Probably even before I made any paintings with pastels. It's a studio piece that brings together various experiences I've had on night hikes in the wild. The moon was done using a sketch of a lunar eclipse I made from my back porch in Pennsylvania (back porches can be wilder than you might imagine.) The cliff is based on one I came across in the Wasatch Mountains. The bighorns are based on ones I saw while passing through the Colorado Rockies, and alludes to the many times I've been aware of wildlife not far from me on walks in dark forests and canyons.

Here's some thumbnail sketches I did while working out the composition for this picture:

I wish I had gotten a better photo of it before it was gone. The painting was sold at a gallery that closed years ago. The picture at the top of this post is a digital image of a bad 35mm film photo, heavily edited to try and bring it up to the quality I think I remember in the original piece. It's the best editing I can do, but still falls rather short of the original. Nonetheless I hope there's yet something in the image the reader can find to enjoy. 

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Canyon Cottonwoods

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

I spent a few days in the four corners region of southeast Utah recently. It wasn't nearly enough time. Of course, maybe there's no such thing as "enough time," especially with all there is to see and do in that area.

The weather was great for camping. Aside from all the wonderful landscape scenery, I enjoyed a little wildlife viewing. Pronghorn antelope, mule deer, a couple tarantulas, a few little lizards, a golden eagle, and some wild turkeys (pictured above) were among the native fauna I was privileged to see.

As you can see from the photograph above, I lived lavishly on this trip. Suite #34, from right to left: bedroom, kitchen, and bath. Well, sort of bath.

I did most of my hiking in the canyon shown above. It's where I made the painting shown at the top of this post. As is fairly common in this region, the canyon has several Anasazi ruins and other ancient sites. I wanted to spend time exploring and painting in Bears Ears, but time and resources came up short. I plan to make it there in the relatively near future, hoping it doesn't become too controversial a place to visit. Or maybe even if it does. This picture shows about as close as I was able to get (Bears Ears is that distant bump on the horizon):

Here's a photo taken from the top of a mesa looking towards the Abajo Mountains:

There's so much to see, and so much to paint in this place. More exploration will be needed before I can do more than the occasional painting there. Right now I still feel like I'm just beginning to learn the place. That may take a while. In the mean time, here's a couple more photos taken from inside the canyon:

Thanks for taking time to visit my blog!