Tempe, Grand Canyon and the New Dog

The Tempe Festival of Arts was a nice success despite some unsettled weather the first two days. Saturday was possibly the coldest day I've ever spent outdoors (well, maybe not the coldest, but it was cold for Phoenix!) This was a great weekend for meeting new people and hanging out with my artist friends. Outdoor events like this can be a lot of work and the weather can be frustrating, but things always seem to turn out alright.

As soon as I got back to the studio I began work on a series of Grand Canyon paintings for my next show. The Grand Canyon 7 exhibit (also known under the ultracool 21st century acronym GC7) will bring together seven artists who have participated in past Grand Canyon National Park plein air events. The Grand Canyon paintings of Amery Bohling, Joshua Been, Bill Cramer, Linda Glover Gooch, George Molnar, Marcia Molnar and Dave A. Santillanes will be at the Amery Bohling Fine Art gallery from March 29th to April 27th, 2012.

The above paintings are untitled. The left one is a 20x24 view from the south rim near the geology exhibit building. The smaller painting is winter scene of the Lookout Studio at sunset and the bottom painting is a 24x24 tree portrait looking across to Vishnu Temple. I'm not sure if any or all of these will be in the show; we'll see what I can manage to do before the opening!

Oh yeah, we got a dog, too. Lucy is a little blind-in-one-eye, rescue Yorkie Terrier something-or-other and my new studio buddy.

Sedona and Zion

I came back from the back-to-back Sedona and Zion Plein Air events simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated. Fun times, painting and hanging out with new and old friends all ending in successful exhibits. Sedona had a bit of weather but just like the Grand Canyon show before it, I think it added something to the paintings. One morning I had to run about a third of a mile to avoid a large storm. I didn't have a panel carrier for the 18x18 I was working on, so I held it over my head and ran like crazy with lightning hitting the crags above me (memories of the near hits at the Grand Canyon were very fresh in my mind!). I made it to my car just as the rain hit. That painting turned out to be my strongest piece of the show.

Zion was perfect if a little cold in the am and pm. I forgot my long johns and ended up wearing two pairs of pants for warmth on several occasions. There were many memorable hours spent painting alongside the Virgin River shaking in the cold. The beauty of Zion more than made up for this bit of discomfort! Hey, at least it didn't rain. It was a great week of painting and I was happy to pick up one of the purchase awards for the show at the opening.

Once again the staff and volunteers that work so hard to put on these events did a fantastic job!! Thanks to all and to my hosts for their generosity!

PS Sorry about the lateness of this post concerning these shows. Lots to catch up on and do around here plus working towards the Tempe show this coming weekend - see next post...

Having a Great Fall (of sorts)

The Prescott Area Artists' Studio Tour was a nice success. We had a lot of people visit over the three days of the tour and more than a few of them went home with some art! It was great sharing my space with Anne Legge. She took over one of my work benches to create some new pieces while I completed a few smaller paintings at my easel. The best part of the weekend came when Megan and then Sarah took over my plein air set up to work. Megan actually sold one of her paintings of an ant (Behind her in the photo. I should have bought it myself! The rest are priceless and will not be available at any price!) I wasn't sure that I'd like having so many people in the studio, but it turned out great. I will definitely plan on doing this again next year. Thanks Mountain Artist Guild for putting this together!

The following weekend I got the chance to go on a rock climbing trip with my good friend and long time climbing partner, Mark (in photo above). We went to Red Rock Conservation Area near Las Vegas for three days to climb some moderately long, fairly easy routes. Well, even if the climbing is "easy", things can still get a little crazy. A couple of hundred feet up our first climb I was nearing the end of the second pitch (roughly 170 feet or so) when a foothold broke sending me on a 30 foot fall down the face. I yelled a cuss word as one is apt to do in these situations, then everything slowed down for a moment and I told myself to close my eyes and wait for the rope to catch me. The gear and Mark held the fall, however, one of my hiking shoes that was hanging on my harness for the hike down broke off and fell down the cliff. I scraped my right elbow pretty good, too. Full of adrenalin, I sorted things out and went back up to finish the pitch. I got to where the hold broke and still had to go further (risking a bigger fall!) to get to the next anchor.

We climbed two more pitches and decided to rappel down the route back to the base. On the way down the rope went into a crack below us and got stuck. We worked on that thing for quite a while before deciding to cut it and get out of there before night came. We never found my lost shoe, so I was forced to do the hour and half hike out barefoot. I have fairly tough feet and there was no way I was going to wear my tight climbing shoes out. It just goes to show that you can do nearly everything right and still have the s**t hit the fan. The rest of the weekend wasn't quite so eventful, just a lot of good climbing with lots of air beneath our feet! Thanks Mark for the catch and good times!

Blown Away - Grand Canyon Plein Air on the Rim!

The Grand Canyon Plein Air on the Rim event ended some time ago and I returned to a lot of home stuff, a studio tour and other things so that what happened there is just now sinking in. It was an amazing time. As the title of this entry suggests, the weather was as beautiful as it was difficult. We had clouds, rain, hail, winds, fog, lightning and many rainbows the entire week. There was so much weather that it really cut into the time we had to paint. I was nearly struck by lightning twice, one time I actually felt a small charge pass through my body at Hopi Point. Despite all this (or perhaps because of it!) everyone produced great works for the opening. I am always impressed with the artists at these events. I was equally impressed with the Grand Canyon Association and National Park staff and voluteers! A truly hard working and dedicated group of people! They really put on a wonderful show. Many thanks to all!!

The opening reception was well attended and I sold nearly everything I had there, plus I picked up the Artists Choice Award. Getting that recognition from such a amazing group of painters was a humbling experience and will be one I will never forget.

The show runs at the Kolb Studio through Nov. 27th. Proceeds from this event will be dedicated to funding an art venue on the South Rim that will preserve and showcase the spectacular collection of historic and contemporary paintings owned by Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Canyon Association. This permanent art venue at the South Rim will help to ensure that future generations of Park visitors will be able to experience Grand Canyon art at its finest. Get up there if you can!

Fall Shows!

This fall I will be participating in the following plein air and art exhibits...

Starting August 10th I’ll be in Grand Canyon National Park for the park’s annual Celebration of Art Plein Air on the Rim. A week painting the canyon will culminate in a wet paint sale that will begin on Aug. 16th and run until November 27th. I’m excited and honored to be invited to this great event! (One reason I tried to spend a lot of time there this year...)

I’ll be taking part in the 4th Annual Prescott Area Artists’ Studio Tour September 30, October 1 & 2, 10am - 4pm. I’m sharing my studio with artist Anne Legge, a talented and unique woodworker/assemblage artist/painter. There will be new art to see and we’ll both be doing demos during the event. Stop by and see where and how I work. An opening reception to preview examples of the tour artists work will be held at the Mountain Artists Guild gallery September 23rd, 5 - 7:30pm. This gallery show will continue through October 4th. (Of course you don’t need a special tour to visit me, my studio is available anytime!)

I'm very pleased that one of my paintings, Alpenglow, has been accepted into the 12th Annual American Impressionist Society Exhibition! The exhibition will be this October 15 to November 15 at Mountainsong Galleries in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA.

The final week of October I’ll be at the Sedona Plein Air Festival once again! This is a great event with many demos, paint outs and special exhibits. Show begins Friday, October 21st through Saturday, October 29th.

After Sedona, I have one night to spend Halloween with the kids before heading to Zion National Park for the In the Footsteps of Thomas Moran Third Annual Plein Air Artist Invitational. This wonderful event runs from October 31st through November 6th. Seeing Zion in the fall should be on everyone’s “Bucket List”! The painting at top right, Beneath Sinawava 12x16, will be in the show.

Finally, in December I will be at the Tempe Festival of Arts. This huge outdoor event has a mind boggling amount of talented artists of all types. December 2-4, 10am to dusk. Admission is free!

I feel so fortunate to be able to participate in these events (somewhere in there is a Red Rocks climbing trip!) This will be my first studio tour and my second year in the American Impressionist exhibit. The plein air events are always fantastic. It is a real pleasure for me to be able to paint in such amazing country and in the company of so many great artists. I can’t wait!

In Anticipation of Grand Canyon Plein Air 2011

These are some paintings I've been working on in studio and plein air for the upcoming Grand Canyon Celebration of Art Plein Air on the Rim, Sept. 10th to 16th. The show will hang in the Kold Studio gallery at the south rim until Nov. 27th. The bottom piece my studio submission for the event - Depths of Winter 24x24. (Sorry for the blurry pics. I think it's time for a new camera...)

American Impressionist Society Exhibition 2011 - I'm in!

One of my paintings, Alpenglow, has been accepted into the 12th Annual American Impressionist Society Exhibition! The exhibition will be this October 15 to November 15 at Mountainsong Galleries in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. I hope I can get out there to see the show - and paint!