Utah County Plein Air Show 2022

12" x 16" Oil on Panel

The Utah County plein air event is going on now. Paintings for the competition were turned in last Saturday. The opening reception is this Friday, June 3rd from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Health and Justice building, 151 South University Avenue in Provo. For more information, visit their website at:

http://www.utahcountyart.com/index.php

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

These are my two entries fore the show. I chose to go to a couple of the higher elevations in the county for these two paintings. I'm looking forward to seeing what other's have entered into the show! The exhibit will be up through July, I understand, so if you happen to be in the area, come see the show!

Lop Sided Tree

 

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

The tree really does look like this. 

There's a trail I walk from time to time that leads along the base of the mountains by town. At one point along the trail I can look up the mountainside and see this tree, my attention drawn by it's unusual shape. One day I finally decided to haul myself, and some painting gear, up the steep mountainside for a painting. The way was not only steep, but the ground was not very stable, making footing less secure. The tree was farther than I realized, so the climb took longer than I thought it would. Eventually I reached the juniper tree and the limestone cliff it was growing out of, and made this painting.

There was some wildlife I enjoyed seeing as I hiked up the mountainside and also along the way back down. Three vultures were winging about the area as I climbed, and later as I descended I crossed paths with some chukar partridges and a heard of mule deer. It's always a nice bonus when oil painting combines with nature watching!

Merry Christmas from Jolly's Ranch!

 

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Down the valley from where I live is a canyon in the Wasatch Range I've visited a lot this year. A few miles up the canyon is a city park that, I presume, used to be a ranch. I've driven past that park many times on my way to higher altitudes, each time thinking I should stop and paint there some time. Yesterday, Christmas Eve, was finally that time.

One nice thing about painting in winter: no bugs in your painting!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Spring City Plein Air 2020

 

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Spent the last week painting and getting ready for the annual Spring City Plein Air show. Got a late start because I thought the event had been canceled like all the other plein air events this year. Found out two days into the event that it was still on, so I hurried down to Spring City to get my painting panels stamped and start painting!

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Went to a place south of town for the first painting. The next day I went up onto the Skyline Drive and did an alpine painting of a group of trees overlooking the valley. I think it's the first time I've ever painted above 10,000 feet elevation. While painting the second day I kept myself hydrated by drinking water from a plastic water bottle I had brought with me. The bottle hissed when I first opened it at altitude. Later, upon returning to the valley, I found that the water bottle had partially collapsed from the change in air pressure. When I loosened the cap, the bottle reinflated itself.

12" x 9" Oil on Panel

The last painting was made at some red rock formations in Diamond Fork Canyon. It's not exactly Southern Utah, but between the red rock formations, the red sand, and some little lizards running around, I felt like I was stepping out of a southern Utah bubble when I was finished and left to go home.

The show will be mainly displayed online for the next couple weeks. For those wishing to purchase a painting from the show, you can click here, or go to springcityarts.com, click on "Plein Air Paintings", and follow directions from there. Last I looked, my paintings are displayed on page 10 of their "Plein Air Paintings" site.

Utah County Plein Air Show

In a year marked by such unpleasantries as a pandemic, recession, earthquake, riots, upcoming elections, and so forth, so many of the plein air competitions, like so many things, have been canceled. But not the Utah County Plein Air Show!

Two years ago was the first year for the Utah County Plein Air Show, and I was part of that, but last year I didn't participate. This year, however, even though I was one of the last to get my panels stamped for the competition, I really did jump at the chance to enter into the event.

There was some confusion when I went to turn in my three finished entries for the show. A Utah County Art Board email said turn in for paintings was June 27 by 11:00 AM. I hadn't checked on the email but was going by what was printed on a form the art board handed out when I registered for the competition, which stated turn in time was 12 NOON. I arrived at the venue on the 27th at around 11:30 thinking I still had time. I was met in the parking lot by a board member who was leaving. She informed me the deadline was 11 AM and that everyone had already left! Luckily I had the form with me and, perhaps with a little excitement, showed her the form and pointed out the 12 Noon deadline stated on the form. The board member agreed and called someone to come open the venue again so I could enter my paintings. The paintings were finally entered into the show.

Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph my paintings before turning them in, so I had to go back later and get these three poorly done photos after the show opened. Hopefully they'll still give you a good enough idea of how the paintings look. The first painting (shown above) was made in the Spanish Fork River Bottoms along a bike trail there. The next painting was made near the pass between Hobble Creek Canyon and Diamond Fork Canyon. Upon reaching the pass, I turned onto a dirt track that ran along a ridge top. I followed the track for a couple miles before picking this spot to paint.

A day or two later I returned to the pass and set up by a large meadow that contained some corrals. There I made the last painting, shown here with a little extra blue added on one side by the show's judge:

Come see the exhibit! The show will be up until August 29th. There's plenty of paintings by several  painters to see. It's located at the Health and Justice Building at 151 S. University Ave, Provo, Utah. Check ahead for hours.

Desert Tower

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Early this month I was back in the desert, near the Book Cliffs. There's so much to explore and paint there! Other parts of Utah get much more attention, and that makes this area all the better for exploring and painting. No noisy crowds. No national park bureaucratic regulations. Just desert canyons and cliffs, pinyon and juniper forests, and wide open views. 

This painting was made on a beautiful day early in November. The weather was one of those late autumn dichotomies where chilly air and warm sun contrast sharply with each other. After painting, I took a little time to hike a trail that led through a couple canyons and through stands of pinyon pine and juniper trees to a pleasant surprise; a waterfall in the desert! This time of year there was a lot of ice built up on the waterfall, and along the creek that tumbled over those falls.

There was much more trail to hike, but the sun was getting low and the time short, so I thought it best to return. And although I physically returned, it's as if part of my mind remained, wondering what else there was farther along the trail. Bits of my mind always seem to get stuck in wild places! I'll be back, for sure, both to paint and to hike more of this wonderful and intriguing landscape!

Mid October Hues

20" x 20" Oil on Panel

Here's a square painting for once. I kind of like the format, so I might just paint a few more of them. Who knows, I could start trying other non-standard formats also.

This painting shows the subtle, earthy colors of a mid October rural landscape. It's days like this that make me want to outfit one of my paintboxes with only earth tone oil colors, just for scenes like this. This painting could have been made using mainly earth colors, such as yellow ochre, burnt umber and burnt sienna, but I used my usual split primary plus viridian palette instead, because that's what I have. Such a bright palette can be used to create earth tone colors just fine, it's just a little more expensive to do it that way. It would be interesting to see how a scene like this could be painted with a Zorn-ish palette, such as yellow ochre, cadmium red, and ivory black or ultramarine blue, plus titanium white. I'll be sure to give that a try sometime soon.

This painting will be in a show early next year. I'll explain more about the show later, as we get closer to it.

Helper Plein Air 2019

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

On the first of October I traveled to Helper, Utah, to spend a few days participating in a plein air event there. I've been hoping for a plein air event in Helper for a long time. The landscape surrounding the town is rich in subject matter for paintings, with miles of towering cliffs and wide open high desert views. Many of the buildings in downtown helper have the feel of an early twentieth century boom town. I've painted in the area before, and have spent a few days there in the past, but it's been a few years since I've been back.

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Helper is a small town tucked up against the Book Cliffs, and located on a major route between northern and southeastern Utah; a route used by people generally on their way to and from other places. Because of Helper's location, it's a major railroad town, supplying extra locomotives to help long trains up steep canyon grades. (Hence the town's name.) The railroad, and coal mining, provided the bulk of the local economy. Those industries, however, have been on the wane recently, and the town has suffered economically.

During my most recent visit I was surprised to find that a number of the previously empty buildings in downtown Helper now house art galleries and artists' studios. During the monthly "First Friday Art Walk," main street is closed to traffic. Street vendors and performers set up their booths street side downtown, and crowds of people show up to tour galleries and enjoy the festivities. Helper is not yet a big art center, but there is a sense of optimism, and the town seems to be on it's way to becoming one.

My abode for a few days.

While in Helper for the plein air event, I stayed at a local campground. The first morning there, as I happened to be looking toward the Book Cliffs a few miles away, There suddenly appeared what I at first thought was smoke from a big wildfire that had just started on the other side of town. But the smoke was billowing downward, not up, like smoke is supposed to. I realized it wasn't smoke. It was dust and debris from a huge rockfall, tumbling hundreds of feet down a towering cliff near town! The rockfall then kicked up a giant dust cloud that rose hundreds of feet into the air, and slowly drifted off to the southeast.

A few minutes later, I drove to a nearby corner market. Pointing to the still lingering dust cloud where the rockfall had happened, I asked the man at the checkout counter,

"Are there any homes located over there?"

He replied that no, that area of town is where the cemetery is and there aren't any homes there.

I asked, "Does this sort of thing happen here very often?"

He answered, "More often than you would think." Then after a short pause added, "That was a big one, though."

The big rockfall had been visible from all over town. It was frequently brought up in conversation later when the plein air painters got together after being out painting all day.

The big rockfall happened on the cliff  visible
just to the right of the top of the tent.

That day and the next I did the two paintings shown at the top of this post. After framing my paintings and turning them in at the gallery, I headed out to explore more of the surrounding area. Pointing the 4Runner down various unfamiliar dirt roads, I would drive until the road ended, or I thought it might never end. Then I'd turn around and go find another road to explore. The diverse roads I followed led me into deep canyons or up onto high mesas.

An example of the brightly colored wild asters that
were growing many places along the road.

There was little time available between dropping off paintings and returning to the gallery later that evening for the reception, so instead of painting I simply scouted the area, stopping from time to time to take photographs.

More Asters

Pinyon pines and juniper trees grow in scattered batches on the tablelands below the book cliffs. Most of the area, however, is open grassland and sagebrush. In the higher elevations a wider variety of trees can be found, including aspens and maples.

An Abundance of Juniper Berries

Perhaps more showy than the asters were the large batches of yellow chamisa, or rabbitbrush commonly growing along the edges of dirt roads.

Chamisa, or Rabbitbrush

More Roadside Rabbitbrush

To see my paintings in person, along with freshly made paintings by more than forty other plein air artists, come visit Adams Fine Arts in Helper, Utah. The gallery is located downtown at 115 South Main Street. The show will be up through the rest of October, and the first of November. All paintings are for sale. For more information, visit https://www.helperpleinair.com

An Example of the Kind of Landscape I Was Exploring

Mt. Olympus on a Hot Summer's Day

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

This is a plein air painting of Mt. Olympus as seen from Olympus Hills Park in Holliday. This section of the park is a nice wild little area near the eastern edge of the city. Walking paths meander through tall grasses and scrub oak, providing a little bit of nature in a broad valley otherwise filled mostly with city.

The day I painted this was very hot, probably over 100° F (38° C). Of course, the view I wanted required that I set up in direct sun for a few hours. I didn't think I could withstand the summer heat long enough to do a large painting, so I kept it fairly small. Judging by how I felt when the painting was finished, I was probably right.

Three More from the Wednesday Night Portrait Sessions!

Three more little paintings from life done at the Wednesday sessions. They were painted alla prima at sessions within the last month or two.

All three were painted in oil on panel, and measure 8" x 6". They were painted with a limited palette of yellow, red, black, and white. For a little more about painting with a limited palette, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "limited palette".

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing".

Wasatch Plein Air Paradise 2019

12" x 16" Oil on Panel

The Midway Art Association is holding it's annual plein air competition right now. Painting for the main competition began last Saturday. Paintings for the main competition had to be turned in yesterday, but smaller "paint outs" and "quick draws" continue through July 4th.

12" x 16" Oil on Panel

I've entered three paintings (all painted this week) into the main competition, but unfortunately won't be in any of the "paint outs" this year due to other commitments. The show runs through July the fourth (except Sunday) and is free to the public. All paintings are for sale. For more information about the event, contact Midway Art Association.

14" x 11" Oil on Panel

Summer Solstice 2019

8" x 10" Oil on Panel

Happy Summer Solstice! Here's a couple recent plein air paintings that I think have an appropriately summery feel to them.

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

This year so far has seen more rain than usual. Nature's also put on daily displays of cloudscapes of all kinds. Clouds can be difficult to paint en plein aire because of their fleet and transient nature. I think this year will provide ample opportunities to take on the challenge of cloudscapes in oil paint. I hope I'm up to it!

First Show of 2019

A few of my plein air paintings are in a group show at the Brown House Gallery in Springville, Utah. The opening reception for the show will be from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM this evening at the gallery, located at 274 South Main Street in Downtown Springville.

Here's a few examples of (mostly small) paintings I'll have in the show:

  

The exhibit will be up for the rest of June and Most of July. Come by and check out the show if you're in the area. Hope to see you there!

A Brunette and a Redhead

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

Two more recent portrait sketches from live models. Both were painted alla prima in oil in two and a half to three hours each at the weekly portrait sessions. The first one was painted with my usual "Zorn (ish)" palette of yellow ochre, cadmium red, ivory black, and titanium white.

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

For the second painting, I did something very different, at least for me. I usually keep my oil color choices for portraits much simpler than when I work in pastel. This time the model wore a turquoise colored blouse, and I really didn't want to miss getting the color contrast between her orange hair and the blouse. So I put blue on my palette. Not only one, but two different blues. The palette for the second painting was cadmium yellow, cadmium red, sevres blue, ultramarine blue, ivory black and titanium white. Sevres blue is an unusual color for me, and I only have it in the particular pochade box I used that evening. There are other blues which also would have served the purpose, but this one worked fine. Who knows, I may become more adventurous on portrait night and start putting more colors on my palette!

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing".

Three More Color Studies

12" x 9" Pastel on Sanded Paper

I'm way behind on posting my portrait studies, so here's three at once! These are three more color portrait sketches from the weekly portrait sessions in March. The second one in this post was painted in oil, and the other two were done in pastel.

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

They're posted in reverse chronological order. The most recent one is at the top, while the oldest one is at the bottom of the post. I hope to post a few of the charcoal studies I did in March soon.

12" x 9" Pastel on Grey Paper

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing".

Man with Long Hair

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

When Casey Childs learned that a neighbor of his, a neighbor with particularly long hair, was going to get his hair cut, he hurried to have the long-haired neighbor sit for the weekly portrait session. He sat for us last Thursday, pre-haircut, and this is the oil paint portrait sketch I made of him. It was made with the usual "Zornish" selection of colors: titanium white, yellow ochre, cadmium red and ivory black.

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing".

Merry Christmas 2018

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

As often as I can, I attend painting and drawing sessions at other artist's studios. A week or so ago, one of the studios had none other than ol' Kris Kringle himself sitting for us to paint! Of course, instead of using charcoal, I had to break out the oil paints. As usual for my portrait oils, I used only four colors, almost a pure "Zorn palette": titanium white, yellow ochre, cadmium red (instead of vermilion) and ivory black. My little oil study of Santa is shown above.

Saint Nick is a fun subject to paint, and far easier than painting an entire nativity scene on portrait night. Of course the real reason for Christmas is expressed in the following video:

Merry Christmas everybody!

Mesa Top Juniper

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

This was painted during a recent trip to the the four corners region of southeast Utah. I was driving around the high desert looking for something to paint when I spotted this tree on a mesa top. After deciding to make a painting of it, I parked in a safe spot off the road, grabbed a 9 x 12 pochade box, and headed up through the sagebrush toward the tree.

The Four Corners Region is full of bits and pieces of ancient civilizations. One can pretty much hike into any canyon and find stone ruins high up on cliff faces. Lithic flakes and pottery shards are also common finds. Lots to look at and wonder about, but don't take!

As I approached the tree, I found two little pieces of ancient broken pottery. Farther on I found more shards. Every few steps revealed more and more pottery fragments, including this spot where it seems someone had gathered different kinds of pot shards into one place:

Likely this much ancient detritus wasn't dropped by someone just passing by. I thought there must have been people living here on this mesa top long ago. Looking around for any signs of past settlement, I found an incongruous pile of rocks and dirt. I think this was once a pueblo, now collapsed and overgrown with sagebrush:

What a great view the ancient residents of this pueblo would have had! From the Abajo Mountains to the north to the spires, buttes and mesas to the south, their view of the landscape would have been wide open!

____________________

As for my own dwelling during this trip, I brought one with me. It's a new tent that's roomy and big enough to stand up in:

And I brought a kitchen, too. Made of pine and baltic birch plywood, it was painted with oil primer that was colored with thalo oil colors I no longer wanted in my paintbox:

My Chuck Box.

I bought this Coleman stove in 1982. It was once my backpacking stove but is now a permanent part of my chuck box gear, as I now have lighter options for backpacking stoves. After 36 years it still works great!

Cooking breakfast on my 36 year old Coleman stove.