Sedona Series now on Exhibit: 10 '15

Eight of my paintings from my Sedona Series went  into the Seacoast Artists Gallery today

 (at 3032 Nevers Street, Myrtle Beach, SC). 

 I  still have a couple more paintings from this series at home, as the oil is too wet to hang.

Sedona Series Layout: 10 '15

I have been working all week on getting the Sedona Series ready to be hung at the Seacoast Artists Gallery tomorrow.  As usual, the gallery notified me a couple of weeks ago, how much space I was allocated, and where that space would be.  It is now up to me to decide how many paintings I should put in that space , and  how to arrange that set within my  wall space.  

Of course the Gallery does have rules about the minimum amount of space they allow between paintings, and how close to the floor or ceiling one can hang art work,  but that still leaves a lot of room for arrangements.  I spent  most of the day today trying different layouts out on my living room floor to see which paintings looked  together by color and shape.  After a testing out a dozen different arrangements, I have finally settled upon this one.   It will allow me to hang  at least eight of the ten paintings from the Sedona Series, and still have enough flexibility in sizes that if one sells, I won't have to  rehang the entire wall just to replace it.  

Sedona Series Updated Photos 10 '15

Airport Mesa Overlook

One of the last things I do before framing my paintings is take a high resolution photograph of each one.  This requires mounting the unframed painting on a black velvet background, setting up photo lamps on stands aimed at 45 degree angles to the painting and mounting my camera on a tripod.  The camera is then  raised to be even with the center of the painting and perpendicular to the paintings surface.  The goal is to get a high quality photograph which is as close the painting's actual color as possible. This is what the the Sedona set looks like.

Where's the Bear?

Oak Creek's Slide Rocks

Bell Rock Trail

Bell Rock Meadows

Kachina Vortex

Moon Watcher

Cathedral Rock Reflections

Devil's Arch

Sedona Series' Cathedral Rock: 10 ' 15

Cathedral Rock Reflections 11'w x 14" h Oil Painting

This painting presented some interesting challenges.  The classic view of this landmark is usually viewed with the red spires reflected in Oak Creek's still waters.  To get this perspective photographers stand in the middle of the creek when the water level is low and there weather is cold enough that no one is in the  water. 

Unfortunately, on the day we were there, temperatures had reached 105 F, and  every inch  of water was occupied by somebody trying to cool off.    even upstream, in the areas where there was large areas of exposed rock and little water to splash in, there were families spread out everywhere ,picnicking and enjoying the view. I was finally able to snap a few  small puddles  in the rocks with good reflections, .  I had to crop the people out of the scene then  concentrate on painting a more interesting foreground.

Finished?? TBD 10 '15

I think I have just about finished my painting of Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon, AZ . ( I am still trying to decide whether I want to modify the sky color). 

In the meanwhile, I am going to start working on a new painting of Cathedral Rock at Red Rock Crossing. This is one of the most photographed places in the world, so it will be challenging to see if I can create an interesting perspective.

Sedona Series ' Airport Mesa Overview 9 '15

'Airport Mesa Overlook' 12" w x 9" h Oil Painting

We  visited the Airport Meas four times during our recent trip to Sedona, and I came away  with a gazillion reference photos  from  taken  almost every vantage point on the Airport Mesa Overlook Trail.  It was hard to decide from that  set, which scene I wanted to paint, but I finally settled on this one because it included the wonderful this  twisted juniper in the foreground, with West Sedona and Thunder Mountain in the background. 

Sedona Series' Kachina Vortex: 9 "15

Kachina Vortex  8"w x 10" h Oil Painting

We drove by the Kachina Vortex  several times on this latest trip, and got several shots of this formation at a distance  but unfortunately  we did not have time to hike  to this famous landmark on this trip. 

My  reference Photos from this trip did not give me the angle of view I wanted.

So I relied on photos I had taken on a previous trip,  combined with the sky from this trip, to paint the great lady of the valley.

Bell Rock Meadow: 7 '15

Bell Rock Meadow painting
I just finished my latest masterpiece. It was painted in oils with a palette knife from a photo I took of the meadows adjoining the Bell Rock parking lot. I've attached both the photo and a photo of the painting so you can compare the two. ( PS I will sign it once the painting has dried).

Photo of the actual Bell Rock meadow

Painting the Town:6 '15

Devil's Arch  (in Boynton Canyon)

Much of our time for the past month has been spent working the house for us being gone during the week we are tin Sedona. You know, all the usual preparation: clearing out all the leftovers in the fridge, deep watering the plants, arranging for a cat sitter, rearranging the garage so we could get the car in it ... work work work ... It's not the way to get excited about an upcoming trip.

Where's the Bear?

I decided to build some enthusiasm by looking through some of the photos I took on several different Sierra Club trips to the area. It worked! I started remembering all of the wonderful hikes we had taken in the area, and getting excited about revisiting those places, and finding new ones.

Moon Watcher

Looking at the photos I realized many of them would make great paintings, but I have never painted scenes from Sedona, or any of the Southwestern desert. Painting this landscape would require, me to explore a whole new color palette. In all probability. I won't have time to do any painting next week while we are in Sedona, so any landscapes I paint of the Sedona area are likely to be based on my reference photos. I decided to try painting a few landscapes from my favorite Sierra Club trip photos. That way I will be familiar with the color scheme, and set to go when I returned home with a new set of photos.

Bell Rock Trail

Above are some pics of the Sedona Series that I have been working on since the end of May. Unfortunately I don't have time to do a proper photo shoot, so the color is off, and they look a bit cartoonish due to the low resolution. They are much nicer in person.

For the paintings I have completed so far, I am using the old photos I took of the Sedona area landmarks prior to 1995. It will be interesting to see what has changed in that time. I will add more paintings to the series from the new photos I take on this trip. Once the series is complete, I  will properly photograph both these and the new paintings and repost them.