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!

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.

Along the way to the Marina

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Here's a painting made last week. It was a warm summer day and lots of people had headed to the lake. So many in fact, that parking in the state park had filled up and spilled out onto surrounding roads. I was lucky enough to find a good spot to park, and hiked a short ways to an area just north of the marina and campground. The park was crowded, and there were watercraft galore out on the lake, but there was no one else where I went to paint. Cottonwood trees were shedding flurries of fluffy seeds, which could be a problem because they stick to wet paintings. Thick swarms of midges were near the lake shore. They also stick to wet paintings. The open area between the cottonwoods and the marshy lake shore was mostly free of both problems. Besides, it had the visual angle on the trees I wanted to paint. So that's where I set up for the day.

The marshes, trees, and fields near the lake are some of my favorite places to paint, or even just go for walks. Wildlife is one of the attractions there. On the day of the painting, six big white pelicans circled in a thermal not far behind me. The pelican's long black-tipped wings lent grace to their otherwise ungainly bodies and huge orange-yellow beaks. Four seagulls circled with the pelicans. I had to stop painting and watch the show. Three more seagulls joined the pelicans, then two more gulls joined in the dance. I wondered why the seagulls seemed to want to be with the pelicans. It soon became apparent, however, that the seagulls were not there for the pelicans. The gulls were there for the thermal, which the six big white showy pelicans had inadvertently advertised to them. The seagulls gained altitude faster and much higher than the pelicans, then slid off the top of the column in twos and threes heading north. The pelicans labored to gain altitude, rising maybe a hundred feet above the ground. They circled for a few minutes before heading off together southward. The show was over. I returned to painting.

Mount Olympus in May

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Late last week I went to Olympus Hills Park in Salt Lake City for another visit with Mount Olympus. This painting was made just outside the outfield fence of the south softball diamond. I had plans to paint from right field again, but some kids were already batting a ball around on the diamond when I got there, so they had first dibs. Just outside the chain link fence worked just fine for me. I was a little worried about the weather clouding completely over, but the wonderful partly cloudy skies held out all day. It was a great day to be outside.

Mount Olympus, Early Autumn

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Mount Olympus, as viewed from Olympus Hills Park. Painted from right field in the south side softball field. Nobody was playing ball so I painted en plein air. I've wanted to paint that mountain when the trees turn bright red. Technically it's still Summer, I suppose, but Autumn colors are really coming on strong now in the mountains, on the downhill side of September.

Half Moon Over Ridge Top Cedars

9" × 12" Oil on Panel 

The last several weeks have been generous with their rainy days. I really didn't feel like going painting earlier this week. However, I determined to get out and paint, rain or shine. I drove up to Bridal Veil Falls, but sat in my car as outside it rained and rained. I gazed out of the rain streaked window and up at the towering cliffs surrounding the falls, turned dreary by the weather.  Or maybe the weather had turned me dreary. Either way, I decided to move on.

A few miles up the canyon is Vivian Park. The weather had improved a little by the time I reached the park, so I thought I might try and paint there. There was a little spot on the ridge above the trout pond that caught my attention, so I set up a pochade box near the parking lot and set to painting. As I painted, the weather cleared just above the ridge I was painting, revealing a quarter moon.

The park was crowded with picknickers and fathers taking their kids fishing. Several people stopped to visit and see what I was painting. I never mind short visits from people as I paint. In fact I generally enjoy their visits. The image above shows the day's efforts from the park.

A Couple Days in Redrock Country

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Last weekend was another trip to Southern Utah for me. This time I went to the southwest corner of the state. I was lucky enough to find a camping spot at a state park campground, and spend a couple days hiking and painting.

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

The weather was great. Blue skies and 70° F. during the day. Lizards were out enjoying the sun, as were Gambel's quail, antelope squirrels, ravens, jays, and a red-tailed hawk. A little chilly at night, but not cold enough for a frost. I was even able to enjoy a short hike in the desert late at night under the light of a brilliant full moon. There was never any need to get the flashlight out of my pack on that hike.

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

There were three different pochade boxes, and a couple 11" x 14" panels packed in the car, but I ended up painting exclusively with a 9" x 12" pochade box. It just seemed to suit me for those two days. The paintings shown in this post were made on that trip.

Arches National Park

12" x 9" Oil on Panel

A trip to the four corners area of Southern Utah to visit relatives last weekend also provided a chance for hiking and painting in the desert. Arches National Park isn't a place I'm really familiar with, but last weekend the National Park Service was allowing visitors into the park for free. I didn't want to pass up that opportunity.

After exploring around Saturday, I settled on Balanced Rock for my subject. In spite of it being the middle of February, I can't imagine better weather to paint in! When the painting was finished I explored a little more around the park, finally leaving after sunset.

Monday I returned to Arches N.P. for more painting. Unfortunately, and in spite of weather forecasts of sunny weather, I found the Moab area socked in with rain and snow squalls. I wandered around downtown Moab until the weather began to break, then headed back into the park. By then it was late in the day and the weather remained unsettled, not really clearing until shortly before sunset. For those reasons I left my painting gear in the car when I hiked to Delicate Arch. 

Up on the slickrock rim where Delicate Arch sits, a cold wind blasted all those visiting the iconic rock formation that afternoon. Twice tourists' hats blew past me and off into the desert. The hats blew by too quickly to catch. People from all over the world were there visiting the sandstone celebrity. Several photographers with their expensive equipment sat waiting for just the right sunset moment to trip their shutters. Time and conditions weren't conducive to plein air painting, but there's always time to sketch. I sat on the slickrock, pulled out a little sketchbook and a no. 2 pencil, and made a quick sketch of Delicate Arch.

4" x 6" Graphite Pencil on Paper.

I don't think I'm done with Arches N.P.

Sugarhouse Park

12" x 16" Oil on Panel

A view of the Wasatch Mountains from Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake Valley.

There were a lot of interesting things going on in Sugarhouse Park last week as I painted this. It's a very busy park. I set up at the top of a rise overlooking the big field depicted in the lower part of the painting. At different times during the day there was a game of "ultimate frisbee", a lacrosse game, or people just tossing a frisbee to one another in that field. Others, walking their dogs, tossed balls for their dogs to chase. Many people simply strolled, enjoying a nice day in the park. Up where I was, some laid back souls relaxed on blankets or even in hammocks. Other more active types walked, jogged, bicycled or longboarded on the park trail.

A large pond a couple hundred yards to the right of where I was set up is where the most curious things were happening. A large crowd was assembled at one end of the pond to watch a few interesting characters wearing funny costumes paddling around on the pond in giant carved-out pumpkins. I didn't know anyone did that sort of thing. 

As I painted, someone strung a sturdy line between two trees just to my right, and several people took turns practicing balancing on it. Off to my left someone was flying a radio controlled model airplane. He flew the RC plane, which had a four-foot wingspan, for several minutes before accidentally crashing it into a tree, where it then crashed to the ground - twenty feet away from me!

Of course, many people stopped to visit with me as I painted. A few even returned a number of times to see the painting's progress during their visit to the park. One person remarked,

"This looks just like one of those how-to videos on YouTube!"

Suspicious Painters

Winter Roadside Willows, 6" x 8" Oil on Panel

This month I've been getting out to paint more. The weather is slowly improving as Winter occasionally shows a better mood. I'm also finally over a nasty sinus infection. The painting shown above was done in Heber Valley earlier this month, but I've also recently painted closer to home.

Last weekend I was painting at a local lake. After finishing the painting and loading everything into the car, I was about to drive off when a DWR (fish and game) truck pulled up and stopped, blocking my way. The officer walked over to my car and said,

“What cha been doing this evening sir?”

“Painting.” I answered.

“Painting!” he said, sounding surprised. He then looked around. “Well you picked a good spot for it.”

After a brief conversation, he let me go and drove off, no doubt on the hunt (no pun intended) for nefarious ne'r-do-well poachers.

That incident reminded me of another time a few years ago I was stopped by the cops:

After spending a day painting in Goshen Valley I was headed home. It was dark by the time I turned east onto Route 6. Somewhere between the small towns of Goshen and Santaquin, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a large Ford truck grill very close behind my little suv. Then red and blue lights started flashing. A glance at my speedometer assured me I wasn't speeding. What on earth could be the problem? I pulled over.

“How ya doing tonight sir?” The deputy asked as he approached my open window.

Now, I don't get pulled over very often, but that question always annoys me. I want to say, “I was doing fine until you pulled me over!”, but of course I don't. To be fair, I think cops ask that question because people who are drunk or guilty can't answer it normally, tipping the officer off as to what kind of wacko they might have just pulled over.

I lamely replied, “Um, OK.”

“Where are you headed?”

“Home.” I answered. I suspected the next question would be about where I'd been and what I'd been doing, so I decided to head it off. “I was painting in Goshen Valley.”

“Wow! You get around!” he exclaimed as he swung his flashlight beam into the back of my car and saw the easel. “I thought I've seen this car before. I saw you down at the state park.”

“The state park?”

“At Utah Lake.”

“Yeah, I've been there.”

The deputy seemed fascinated that he had pulled over a painter. He asked if I knew my license plate lights weren't working. I didn't know. He told me I should get them fixed when I got home. After quickly looking over my driver's license the officer let me continue on my way. The next day I fixed the malfunctioning lights.

Sketch Everything! Part 2

This is part two of a series about sketchbooks. Part one can be found here. 

The sketchbook page shown above has three different sketches. One is a trompe l'oeil of an antique fishing lure. One evening I got out the colored pencils, placed the lure on a white sheet of paper and drew what I saw. It was done for practice.

The other sketches on the sheet are simple line studies done on a different day. On that day, the leaves were being drawn in a backyard in Pennsylvania when a bumblebee suddenly landed on one of the leaves close to me. I was a little concerned about possibly being stung by such a large bee, but then I began to notice unusual things about it. Bumblebees look for flowers, but this "bumblebee" had parked itself on the face of a a leaf and then didn't move - something I don't think bumblebees can do. Closer inspection showed it didn't have a bumblebee's face, but a head more like that of a fly. Overall, it looked like a bumblebee but acted like a fly. I dubbed it "Bumblefly." It stayed put long enough to have it's portrait done. That's it on the lower left quarter of the sketchbook page shown above.

There are a lot of color studies in some of my sketchbooks, done to see what happens when this color is mixed with that color. Here's a small sample (this one in colored pencil) next to quick sketches of honeysuckle blossoms:

Written notes find their way into my sketchbooks, too. Here's just two of several pages of notes taken during a painting workshop:

Quick studies of people who don't know they're being sketched is a way of strengthening people drawing skills without always having to hire a model. It also catches people in natural, unposed attitudes. The next sketchbook page shows quick gesture studies of children playing in a park:

It's important not to draw attention while sketching (pun not intended, but I like it anyway). People are often flattered to learn they've been sketched, and sometimes after the fact I might show them the finished sketch. However, to keep the gestures natural it's important that they don't know they're being sketched. Adults are less likely than children to notice someone is sketching them. One day I went to a local park, sat down on a picnic bench and began sketching children playing nearby. I'd scratched off only a few gesture studies when one of the kids suddenly shouted, "Hey, that guy is drawing!" The next thing I knew I was surrounded by children wanting to see what I was drawing. So much for that! My cover was blown. I quickly showed them the sketches, excused myself and retreated.

On the other hand, sketching pictographs found in a red rock alcove in Canyonlands didn't attract any attention - at least, none that I could see:

Sometimes I'll just doodle in my sketchbook. Doodles can be a useful way of exploring design and other ideas:

One of the most important uses for sketchbooks is planning out finished works. The image below shows a series of thumbnail sketches done in preparation for a finished painting. These "notans" were used to help work out the design for the finished painting. The painting sold in an exhibit and unfortunately I didn't get a photo before it went out the door, but the design I used was the one in the middle of the bottom row (seen on it's side):

New Mexico Trip

Las Golondrinas Adobe Church, 8" x 10" Oil on Panel

Last weekend I traveled to New Mexico to do some painting and pick up a painting from a show in Albuquerque. There I had an enjoyable visit with Albuquerque painter Jeff Potter. The opportunity to paint in the Sandia Mountains was hampered by cloud cover and haze from nearby wildfires so Jeff and I headed north in his pickup truck looking for weather more conducive to plein air painting. We went to a living history museum near Santa Fe called El Rancho de las Golondrinas where we set up and painted on opposite sides of an old adobe church. The painting shown at the top of this post is the one I did there. After painting we took a brief tour of some of the other places on the old ranch where park guides told us a little about the history of El Rancho de las Golondrinas. I wish I could spend more time there. History is a big deal to me. It not only provides a standard to test modern progress by but gives insight into attitudes and problem solving methods quite different from what exists today. Some of those attitudes and problem solving methods could be very useful in these times.

Later that day the weather around Albuquerque improved and I was able to go to a place near Jeff's house and do a quick painting of the Sandias. 

Sandia Canal, 8" x 10" Oil on Panel

The trip home took me through a lot of typical New Mexico landscapes of long mesas and big skies. I look forward to my next painting trip there!

Escalante, Another Demo, and Alien Beings

Last week was Everett Ruess Days and the annual plein air painting competition in Escalante, Utah. After attending the opening of the show at Fremont Indian State Park, I drove to Torrey and camped for a couple nights in a tent at an RV park. Like last year, the picture I entered into the show was painted in the Capitol Reef area. On Monday I set up in the parking area for the Chimney Rock hiking trail. Here are some photos of that painting in-process.

Canvas toned and initial drawing.

Messing with lights and darks.

Adding Color

Finished painting. Chimney Rock, 16" x 20" Oil on Canvas Panel.

Just as last year, I handed out business cards and talked to people from all over the world. I enjoy talking to people who stop for a short visit while I'm painting. Some painters don't. If you see a painter and they're wearing earphones, they probably don't want to be bothered.

The next day, I painted near Torrey. This is the painting I entered into the main show:

Torrey Breaks, 16" x 20" Oil on Canvas Panel.

Monday night I camped at a spot north of town near the Great Western Trail. After driving a couple miles up an ATV trail, through a couple mud holes and across a stream, I came to a washout that even the ATVs wouldn't tackle. Their go-around looked too adventurous for my 4Runner, so I pulled off the trail and camped there. Walking over for a closer look at the washout, I thought, "This will take a piece of heavy equipment to fix." I had no idea how soon that would happen.

This kind of camp has advantages and disadvantages. On the minus side, there's no wi-fi or showers. On the plus side, it's free and it's wild. This spot came with an additional challenge, though. I thought since it was late Monday, and there was a washout making the trail difficult, no one would likely come by. So I began to settle down for a peaceful night in the pinion pines beneath red rock formations. 

But shortly after sunset, an ATV came by and stopped at the washout. Then along came a backhoe followed by a pickup pulling a flatbed trailer. The backhoe commenced scooping dirt out of a bank not far from my camp and filling in the washout. That accomplished, they parked the backhoe not 50 feet from my camp and both the ATV and the pickup headed up the freshly repaired trail. They had to see that I was camped close by, but they never seemed to acknowledge I was there. A while later, the ATV and the pickup returned, followed by another ATV. They didn't stop at the backhoe, but continued on past. Later, an ATV with two people came back up the trail and stopped at the backhoe. One of them got in the backhoe and fired it up while the other person continued on up the trail on the ATV. The backhoe operator drove the piece of heavy equipment back down the trail. Later that night the ATV came tooling back down the trail. 

So much for a peaceful night. There was no more traffic for the rest of the evening, but I lay awake awhile wondering if anything else was going to come motoring by and maybe even start digging again.

The next night I camped further up into the trees, and nobody came by the entire night. Except for the construction crew and all the unexpected traffic on the first night, it was a nice place to camp. Two old campfire rings nearby indicated other people thought the spot was a good one, too. There was other evidence this was a choice spot for camping, even to ancient people. Wandering around my camp one morning, I discovered a lot of lithic flakes. These were shards of sharp obsidian and flint knapped off of stone tools or weapons by Indians long ago. I examined a few of the lithic flakes, putting them back when I was done with them.

Lithic Flakes

Closeup of Lithic Flakes

I'll bet ancient Indians didn't have to worry about backhoes in the middle of the night!

Wednesday I went to Escalante and participated in the paint out at Slot Canyon Inn. For the rest of the week my camp was at Escalante Outfitters. I did a few more small paintings that week, at Devil's Garden and Hell's Backbone, then attended a small town church service on Sunday.

Thursday at Devil's Garden, an F-16 fighter jet came roaring by, just a couple hundred feet or so off the ground. A while later a C-130 flew overhead just as low. I set my camera aside while I painted to be ready to snap a picture should another war bird fly by. No other war planes came by. Instead, a sudden dust storm blew down the little canyon I was in and my camera was caked with desert sand! After blowing and dusting the camera off as best I could, I turned it on. I got a "Lens Error" message and the camera wouldn't work. If I can get photos of the other paintings I did I'll show them in a later post.

Now for the alien beings! The first night at Escalante Outfitters I was out under the pavilion in the campground working on my computer when this little guy came wandering by:

Only it wasn't so little. The thing was at least two inches long and it's ugliness made it look even bigger! It trundled back and forth across the concrete floor of the pavilion the whole time I was there. Or there were several of them taking turns crossing the pavilion floor - I don't know. This is one of the most bizarre looking creatures I have ever seen and it looked like it was from another planet! 

 

Turns out, it's not an alien creature from outer space after all, but a Jerusalem cricket (Stenopelmatus spp.) It (or they - I don't know) seemed to behave itself, so I decided not to call out the army on this one!

Fremont Indian State Park Show

Photo Courtesy of Candee Osborne

The photo above shows me with an exhibit of my plein air oil landscapes in the Sagebrush Gallery at Fremont Indian State Park. The show runs from September 17, 2011 through January 2, 2012. Twenty six of my paintings are on exhibit there. This is the largest exhibit of my paintings yet, with a wide variety of landscapes represented and seasons depicted. Sizes of paintings range from 6" x 8" to 18" x 24".

There are a few works by other artists exhibited there also, including the potter who made those wonderful pots in the display case my grubby little fingers are on. Names of other exhibiting artists are, Joe Venus, Sharon Linde, Dennis Zupan, Finn Murdoch, Vanessa Allen, Vandy Moore and Randy Esplin. 

If you get a chance to visit, check out the FISP website for more information. Besides the Gallery, there is a visitors center, campground, miles of scenic trails to hike and a huge amount of ancient Indian rock art scattered throughout the park. The Sagebrush Gallery is free admission. The rest of the park has a small entry fee. Come and enjoy a visit!