Smelter Mountain

Afternoon Light - 12x12"
pastel on black cardstock

The second of today's plein air paintings, done from the deck off the master bedroom.  The oak-scrub covered slopes of Smelter Mtn. always look fabulous in the late afternoon light, and they are beginning to get the slightest hint of fall color.

The dog park and a tiny sliver of the Animas River give it a bit of scale and context.

The first painting, done of a section of the La Plata river up the canyon of the same name, was a worthwhile effort, but didn't come together as I'd hoped.  I honestly don't mind it when that happens.  It was a complex scene, and with rapidly changing shadows across water, it would probably be a good studio painting.

I wasn't discouraged, but it did prompt me to set up the easel and paint this piece, which I did in less than an hour.

Animas River Valley - plein air landscape

Morning on the Animas River Valley - 12x12"
pastel on black cardstock

Today's painting, with the Friday plein air group.   A new location - the Lion's Den city park.  It's an easily accessible location that overlooks the scenic Animas River Valley, and good practice painting a "big view", something I don't do often.

Blooming chamisa and dark skies - plein air

Late August in Horse Gulch - 16x12"
pastel on black Strathmore paper

The chamisa in bloom, aka "rabbitbrush", are a sign that late summer is upon us, and fall is right behind.

This is the view along the nearby trail system area known as Horse Gulch, and specifically, along a trail  known as the "Meadow Loop".  It overlooks a sweeping view of sage, grasses and chamisa, and slopes up to a hillside of Gambel oak, pinyon and juniper.

It was in the low 90's when I went up in the mid-afternoon yesterday to start painting, and the sun was intense.  But, the light has a different quality to it - it is around this time that we start to notice that.   I had a bit more work to do on it when I got back, but it was too late to photograph it until this morning.

We are heading up to the Piedra River in a little bit for Wayne to do more fishing and of course I am bringing along my painting gear, though I have no idea what I'll paint today.

Along the Animas River, and another cloud study - plein air, pastel

Both from yesterday.

Riverside Stata and Cottonwood - 12x12", plein air
pastel on black cardstock

In the morning, local 4CPAP friend Lori and I painted together along the river, right along the A.R.T.  I've been wanting to paint this particular view since last fall when I took the photo below during a walk.  So, I probably will come back in the fall and revisit it.

Hard to believe it's the same location.  Both Lori and I took the same artistic license and left out that distal mountain.

Later in the afternoon, as a large monsoon storm was building to the northwest over the mountains, I set up the easel in our front sidewalk area for a fast cloud study, with the eastern slope of Smelter Mtn:

Sky South of Smelter - 12x12", plein air
pastel on yellow cardstock

Quartet of plein air paintings - pastel

Today, I was on a roll, and pushed my plein air total for 2012 past 70.

First, the large one, from a park south of town:

"Passing To the North" - 12x12", plein air
pastel on black cardstock

Then, smaller, 10-minute cloud studies:  one at the same location as the above painting:

Cloud Study with Slopes - 6x6"

And, two more at home, from inside my studio looking west:

Cloud Study - from deck - 6x6"

And east, with an attempt at the moon:

Waxing Gibbous Moon with Cloud - 8.5x11"

Monsoon sky - pastel, plein air

Colors of Earth and Sky - 12x12", plein air
pastel on sanded black cardstock
 © S.Johnson

This was just plain fun to paint.  Near the river and looking south with a peek of the Purple Cliffs.

Hermosa Creek - plein air, pastel

Hermosa Creek - 12x12", plein air
pastel on brown cardstock
© S.Johnson

Today was one of those days I was in a bit of a quandary as to what to paint, and didn't think I'd end up going out at all - nothing local sounded really appealing to paint.

But, today was an absolutely beautiful day, weather-wise, so at least a hike was in order.  Wayne suggested Hermosa Park, which is a river valley that is due west of the ski area, Purgatory, also known as Durango Mtn. Resort.  

I remembered this very location from earlier visits, and even a photo taken in '09 before we lived here, of the red creek bank, so it was an easy choice to paint.

Beautiful cumulus clouds filled the sky, but I chose to leave them out for this painting to simplify things.

Cottonwoods near the river

Summer Cottonwoods - 12x12", plein air
pastel on light brown cardstock

Yesterday afternoon's painting, down at one of my favorite locations behind the mall.  A fenced off field containing some sheds or buildings of a bygone era are right next to the section of the Animas River Trail.

The view faces to the north, slightly west, and the La Platas can be seen in the distance.

Wayne fished while I painted this, and while this cloud changed forms while I painted, it remained in essentially the same location...until about 10 minutes before I finished, and suddenly, the sky was filled with clouds.

A few sprinkles hit the windshield literally seconds after I put the easel in the car - talk about timing!

From our top deck yesterday afternoon:

We are leaving tomorrow for yet another three-night trip in the mountains - this time, over by Rico.  Our Bayfield friends, Sarah and Todd, are already camping in the area with their horses, and we'll be rendezvousing with them in an area known as "the meadows".

As always, the painting gear is coming along, and the river to paint this time will be the Dolores.  I might even see if I can drive over and paint in Rico itself.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Two Durango area landscapes in pastel - plein air

I'm leaving for a weekend trip to Taos in a bit, so this post will be super short - just two recent paintings of the landscape near Durango.

Yesterday morning's painting, from Haviland Lake:

Monsoon Skies Over Hermosa Cliffs - 12x12"
pastel on sanded black cardstock
© S.Johnson

This painting was as much about the clouds and skies as the landscape.  By the time I finished painting, the clouds had almost completely filled the sky and thunder could be heard to the northeast.  

Dry Summer - 12x12"
pastel on brown cardstock
© S.Johnson

Painting from July 1 afternoon, at Pastorias SWA.  Looks much better in person, where the two layers of distal mountains are visible.  Much of Florida Mesa has been cultivated and developed to irrigated farmland, but I opted to paint this area of sagebrush and dry grasses to get a break from the green.

Everyone have a great weekend; with luck, I'll come back with a few paintings from Taos!

Painting in Durango - plein air pastel

It's nice when you don't have to travel far to find something to paint.

Sky From 3rd Ave - 12x12"
pastel on light brown cardstock
© S.Johnson

And, after hiking up Engineer trail this morning, I was feeling too lazy to drive anywhere, so I just walked half-way across our street to the grassy median, and painted from there.  Sitting, of course.

I've sort of been wanting to paint this house for a while, so this seemed like the perfect time, especially since the next 4C paint out is in Silverton, and that's all about the buildings and architecture.  Good practice for that.

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Photos from the hike, which was about 8 miles and topped out above timberline at 11,900'.  This is a top-notch hike for wildflowers, and they were stunning this year - surprising, given the lack of rain and light snowpack.

No landscape photos, because about 1/2 mile from the junction to hike up Engineer, a cloud positioned itself right in front of the sun, and proceeded to grow to epic proportions in the windless sky, killing the light.  Disappointing from a photographer's standpoint, but that's the way it goes.

Instead, I bring you a batch of butterflies and paintbrushes:

Coronis Fritillary

Western Paintbrush - while the sun was still out

Rocky Mountain Parnassian
This, and the butterfly below, were stationary on flowers while the sun was behind
the clouds above timberline.  They require the warmth from the sun in order to fly.

Arctic Blue on Sneezeweed

Rosy Paintbrush

West Coast Lady - first of these I've ever seen

Purplish Fritillary

Painted Lady - underside

Milbert's Tortoiseshell

Falls Creek - pastel, plein air landscape

Falls Creek Cliffs - 12x12"
pastel on brown cardstock
© S.Johnson

Yesterday's painting, with details (and wind damage) finished up today.

A quick departure from the river and rocks to paint in a new location near town.  I can't believe I hadn't thought to paint here before, but the only other time I've been to this somewhat hidden creek valley was last year in early spring.  I knew I wanted to come back and paint it, but forgot until yesterday.

The area, known as Falls Creek Archaeological Area, is just a few miles north of town and adjacent to Hwy 550.  However, it's not visible from the highway because of a section of cliff separating it from the valley.  There are no visible ruins, but there was/is archaeological evidence of the Basketmaker culture that lived in the area 2500-1400 years ago.  This particular view, to the west, is closed to the public to protect fragile archaeological areas.

What drew me to paint here was, of course, those striking cliffs of white sandstone.  It's as close as I can get to the Utah landscape I adore so much...just more of that pesky green to contend with, which I consider the bane of my existence as a landscape painter.  Needless to say, the greens were my least favorite part about doing this painting.

Speaking of painting green, I was thrilled to read Stapleton Kearns' latest blog post addressing that very issue:  Dealing with summer greens.  If you're a landscape painter and haven't read this post, head over there now and check it out.  I should print it out and laminate it to my easel.   If nothing else, I was comforted to read that I am far from being alone in my disdain of painting this season.

After reading Stape's post and studying that fabulous Willard Metcalf painting, I decided to apply his principle of "smuggling red" into this piece.  I frequently use purples and blues to modify the greens, particularly in the shadows, but I've never really tried reds, so this was a very cool thing to try.  Not much, but I did smudge some dark brick-earth reds into those upper dark trees.  I think I could have been more assertive with that.

Next time.  Perhaps tomorrow:  the 4C group is going back out to the private ranch in La Plata Cyn to paint tomorrow, and there's a lot of green.

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Wayne and I decided that we had such a great time at Cascade Creek on Sunday that we are going to spend an extended weekend there:  fishing, painting and hiking.   This time, I will be driving my Jeep up so I can cut off a mile of hiking along the high-clearance road to the actual trailhead with my painting gear.  The hardest part will be deciding what to paint from all the areas I saw.

With luck, I'll come back Sunday with a handful of paintings and more new photos!

I am going to have a delayed post go up while I'm gone of photos taken at my friend Sarah's yesterday afternoon, just because they are too fun not to share, and I'm as much a photographer as painter.

Animas River in plein air - pastel

Two recent paintings done along the Smelter Mountain rapids section of the Animas River:

River Boulders and Whitewater #2 - 8.5"x11
pastel on forest green cardstock
© S.Johnson

Saturday afternoon's painting.  It continues with my fascination with the flow patterns of water over and around partially submerged boulders.  This past weekend was the Animas River Days; readers may remember photos from last year's kayak rodeo during that event.  The river is less than 1/4 of that flow now.  I sat on the bank of the river in my stadium chair and painted this.  I managed to wrap it up just as the first participants in the rafting costume contest floated by.

Fallen Rock and Riverside Tree - 12x12"
pastel on black cardstock
© S.Johnson

Yesterday's painting.  This huge slab of fallen rock from Smelter was intriguing with its color gradations, fissures and shadows.  And then, this little cottonwood growing out of one of the junctions. I finally remembered to pull out the boxes of new Senn's that I bought last month, which included a cool green that I thought would be a good addition for all the foliage I paint.  Turns out, it was just perfect for river water.  

Utah intermission, local plein air, and show updates

Despite the several day silence here, I've actually been busy...painting!  I had intended to do the Utah trip in a continuous series of posts, but instead of putting the finishing touches on those paintings, I've just been doing new ones (and not always getting those finished on location, either).

I did finish the painting from yesterday's 4CPAP, and I'll post that tomorrow, along with pictures from the day, and hopefully sit down and finish up the pieces from the Utah trip in a timely fashion.

Here is this afternoon's quickie painting, done at Santa Rita park.  We did a 6 mile hike up Animas City Mtn. this morning, so I decided I would definitely sit to paint.   The Animas, unfortunately running about 1/4 of its normal flow for this time of year, is a beautiful green, so I will be painting it on a regular basis.  I brought my stadium chair and sat in the shade of one of the huge cottonwoods on the river bank.  Several rafting groups went by, along with many kayakers, which I always enjoy watching.  Then, on the far shore of the river, right along the edge shown in the painting, two families of Canada geese and their goslings went by.  What a great way to spend an early summer afternoon while painting a rock with water splashing around it.

River Boulder & Whitewater #1 - 8.5x11"
plein air
pastel on sapphire blue cardstock

Other news that has been accumulating that I wanted to share is that at the reception last Friday for the 4CPAP's National Parks show, held at San Juan College in Farmington, two of my paintings won awards!

The Chaco triptych  "A Window Through Time", shared the honor of winning the Artist's Choice award with Fran Mayfield.  Only 4C members could vote on this, and it was really impossible to pick a single favorite painting out of the 50+ paintings I'm guessing where there; I probably spent 15 minutes making my choice.  We left before the awards were announced, so I found out via email the next day.  This peer-based award really means a lot to me, because it does validate my efforts and dedication to my plein air work.

And, additional awards were given by NPS rangers, one for each of the three parks represented in the show.  My colorist painting "Walls and Shadows", won the Best of Show for Aztec Ruins National Monument.  It's really still hard for me to believe, particularly given the quality of work at the show.  

Finally, I got a call today that the one painting I entered in this year's annual member's juried show at DAC was accepted:  "Winter's Reflections".  It was one of my favorite studio pieces created this year, and I wanted to enter it in at least one juried show, and maybe a pastel-only show at some point.

I dropped the painting off towards the end of the day, after yesterday's paint-out, and along with another 4C member who was there at the same time, we got to take a look at submissions.  I have noticed that the overall quality of work at this show keeps increasing with each show, it seems, and there were a HUGE number of entries - probably close to 200, I'd guess.  I'm going to help hang the show tomorrow, so I will find out how many were entered vs. selected.  Regardless, it was clearly an honor to have a painting selected for the show.

Reception for the show is this Friday, which happens also to be my birthday.  My sister will be in town, and our friends Sarah and Todd from Bayfield are coming in, so a merry time is sure to be had!

A view from the river - pastel painting, plein air

From an earlier trip.

Near the Footbridge - 12x12"
pastel on cardstock
© S.Johnson

Since I have not managed to keep with my schedule this week to get out and paint, I at least managed to finish up this piece, done two weeks ago.

The title refers to the footbridge where the Animas River Trail crosses the river, a stone's throw behind where I stood to paint this.

The hardest part - and that which I didn't finish on location - was the mid-ground row of trees.  Most are cottonwood and similar in color, save for the shadowed areas.  Massing them in was not easy.

During the time I was painting this, I had a guy who appeared to be quasi-homeless come down to converse with me.  After telling me of his misfortune of having someone steal some of his ink drawings and telling me he'd never been able to paint well with pastels, he then hit me up for money.  Does anyone bring money with them when they are out painting?  I certainly don't.  After realizing I was a financial dead-end, he wished me a good day and headed back up over the footbridge...which is how he'd seen me to begin with.

Later, a Canada goose paddled upstream past me to the second little grassy extension you see, and busied itself looking for food.  Later, I noticed it had moved out to hang out on one of the larger boulders in the river.

I think it's for these things that I also enjoy being on location.  In addition to the prolonged observation of place that location painting affords, I witness the small events such as these that add to the experience.

Rocks, sky and sagebrush - plein air in pastel

A minimalist piece, of sorts, from this afternoon [edit:  re-done version posted on 5/18]*

Skyward Sagebrush - plein air
12x12 inches, pastel on brown cardstock

Finally, some time to get out and paint.  Between the odd storm weather that moved in for the better part of last week, followed by visiting relatives, my plans to get out and paint had to be put on hold until today.

We took Wayne's parents, who live in Phoenix, up to the cool 9,000' mining town of Silverton for a good part of the day.  After we got back, I grabbed my gear and beat it out to Santa Rita Park to at least get something done in the way of filling a sheet of paper in with pastel.

Sort of reminiscent of the recent painting done in Utah, this features a rock outcropping and sagebrush. It's along a dirt trail that heads off of the Animas River Trail a few hundred meters past the park and skirts the Animas river to the east and above.  I looked up to the top of the rock outcropping, saw these, and knew instantly that I had to paint them.

*I normally don't offer up critiques and/or point out shortcomings in my paintings here on the blog.  However, in this case I feel compelled to point out that the clouds bother me.  They are always a challenge to paint on location as they are in constant flux, and I'm always fighting to keep them from looking contrived, or just plain funky.  I knew I wanted them to come from the upper right to balance the elements in the lower left, but they aren't working for me.  Too lacy, too convoluted - I'm not sure.  I do know that I want to, er...need to, to rework them.  Simplify, simplify!


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From the Silverton trip:

A bighorn sheep yearling along Hwy 550, curious but unafraid
of me and the camera

Andrews Lake

Wayne and his parentals in Silverton, because I do occasionally
take photos of people!

Lone Tree - plein air pastel

From late this afternoon.

Lone Tree and Passing Clouds - plein air
pastel on turquoise cardstock - 8.5x11"
© S.Johnson

Also at Santa Rita Park, looking across to the flat hillside that makes up the edge of the dog park.  The terminus of Smelter Mtn. slope is in the background.

We've been having weather conditions that are similar to the summer monsoons, although without the intense winds, thunder and lightning...or rain.

The skies are clear in the early a.m., and by mid-morning, clouds are building over the mountains.  Today,  the sky filled completely before I could head out and paint, and then we actually got rain.  The main storm had cleared away by about 4 p.m., so I headed out to slip in a quick painting.

It's on a new color - turquoise - of a pack of Colorbok cardstock I bought from Walmart.  These are dark jewel tones, and the smaller size makes them really easy to do for a quick daily painting.

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From our deck today:

Animas River, plein air pastel, 12x12 inches

From yesterday, a late afternoon painting at Santa Rita park.

Perins and the River Split - plein air
12x12", pastel on black cardstock

A quickie piece, sort of, from my decision to head out at 4:30 PM to try and paint.  

The Animas river divides for a short section right at the park.  I painted a section of the little island bank, in winter, here.  Anyway, looking upstream and west afforded this view of a backlit cottonwood, the shaded side of Smelter Mtn. and Perins Peak off in the distance.  

I got it 90% finished on location, came home, and finished the remaining areas before it went on the "not finished" pile.  Took a photo, which was horrid, and showed what I felt were small, but glaring, issues that seem to only be visible in photos, and fixed those.  

Looks better now.

My original plan was to paint at the Dry Fork area a few miles west of town yesterday, while Wayne hiked.  We've been having these monsoon-like clouds and storms build up over the past several days, and I hadn't given any thought that while they are great to paint from a distance, when they are overhead, they kill the light.

Duh.

So, I turned it into a photo session and hike instead, which was rewarding on its own.

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Western Flag - native iris

the view I'll paint next time 

A Silvery Blue - one of the earliest blues to appear in spring - on unfolding iris

Gambel's oak leafing out along the trail

Silvery Lupine 

Colorful member of the Pea family 

Beautiful, and apparently very rare, Purple Lily 

Impressive clouds to the east, but no rain

Secluded canyon, plein air pastel painting

From last week.  

Footpath Through Willows - plein air
12x9" - pastel on brown cardstock
© S.Johnson

I recently discovered a new trail just minutes away from where I live, that seems as remote as somewhere in southern Utah canyon country.  The main trail leads up to the top of Smelter Mountain, but this small, seldom-used path splits off early on and leads up the small canyon behind Smelter.

A neat find, with potential for future paintings.  

Plein Air along the Animas River in Durango - pastel, 16x12

Our trip to Cedar Mesa was absolutely fantastic, and I have paintings and photos to share from that trip.  I've decided to split that into a few contiguous posts just to keep each a manageable size and hopefully not disinterest more readers than I maybe already have...

So, in the meantime, here is yesterday's painting done with the 4CPAP group right here in town:

The Purple Cliffs - 16x12 inches
 pastel on acid-free construction paper

Durango is surrounded by a series of tilted, eroded ridges, known as hogbacks, including this one, known by locals as the "Purple Cliffs".  And purple they are - colorful shales of what I believe is the Morrison formation.   I've been wanting to paint them for probably as long as I've been living here, so I was happy to finally be able to do that.  The cottonwoods are now leafing out in force, and in that beautiful shade of pale green that I enjoy painting.  Also, green + purple = winning combination.

This is the view from the terminus of the Animas River Trail, although I ended up standing on a slope next to the trail to paint.

I got this 90% finished on location, but when the wind started kicking up around noon, blowing my hat off and forcing me to hold the easel while I painted, that's when I usually decide it's time to pack it in.

The two challenges were trying to make the very muddy Animas look not so...unappealing.  The warm temperatures we've been having accelerate mountain snowmelt, and the river is at a seasonal high, and much siltier than normal.  Also, I'm not sure the foreground cliff reads very well; it is in fact probably 20' above the river and not at the shoreline.  Ditto the middle "island", which I decided to keep because it had neat things going on and helped to break up the otherwise solid mass of the river.

At any rate, I'll certainly be back to paint the purple cliffs again, and will at least have a better idea how to handle these issues.  Painting the same location repeatedly is a common practice amongst landscape painters, both past and present, and this subject in particular makes me appreciate why.

Two more Road trip series, and a local painting - 6x6 oils

A trio of paintings from the past 2 days....

Above Black Mesa - #9
6x6 inches, oil on 1/4" wood panel
© 2012, S.Johnson

Yesterday's painting, which has a composition that is unconventional, but I was nonetheless drawn to it.  There's no foreground or real focal point - just three basic shapes of different colors and values.  It has an abstract feel to it, which is probably why I like it.

Clouds Over Organ Rock - #8
6x6 inches, oil on 1/4" wood panel
© 2012, S.Johnson

This painting was actually started (and mostly finished) before the large pastel posted a couple of days ago.  However, there were some minor things that bugged me about it, so I did a couple of touch-ups to it when I pulled out my oils again 2 days ago.

Dark Skies Behind Horse Gulch
6x6" oil on 1/4' panel

And this was a quickie I did on Friday afternoon.  Horse Gulch is the amazing trail system a few blocks east of where we live, and the north-facing mesa still had a lot of snow.  This is the view outside my upstairs window, and when I saw the dark, brooding sky behind it in the afternoon sun, I knew I needed to paint it.  I debated about whether to add the rooftops of the houses, but I'm glad I did - they are a part of what defines this as "Durango".