More from southern Utah - plein air and canyons in photos

With so much local/regional CO painting going on, the Utah trip got a bit sidelined by the paintings that needed some final work or adjustments.

A while back, I did sit down and finish up a couple of them, and this seemed like a good time to post them since I didn't make it out to paint today.  

Not in chronological order here, but best one first:

Gathering Storm over Duffrey Mesa - 8x16"
pastel on board with Golden pumice + black acrylic
© S.Johnson

Duffrey Mesa is located right near the town of Boulder, UT.  I had this view a short walk up the hill from our campsite, which was about 5 miles east of Boulder along the Burr Trail Scenic Road.  I was the one who found this campsite, and Wayne and I have determined that we will be returning to it - the views were incredible, and I could literally paint in 360 degrees.

I painted this the morning we left to drive up to Torrey.  The storm that was to produce the record high winds over the Memorial Day weekend was starting to build, and the clouds made for a perfect addition.  Boulder Mtn./Aquarius Plateau is visible in the distance.

A rare photo of me + easel in the same shot.  And, it's a bit breezy, which always adds to the excitement of painting on location.  Or not.

Next is the painting done two days prior, while camping on a pinyon forest plateau near Bryce NP.

Table Cliffs and the Old Juniper - 8.5x11"
pastel on maroon cardstock

This painting is one I'd like to revisit in oils; I think it would be more likely to have met with my pre-painting expectations (and we all have those, right?).  Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the location, so it would have to be done from this pastel.  Also about 50 yards on a hill from our campsite, it looks east towards the Table Cliffs, with the town of Escalante probably about 30 miles as the crow flies beyond.

And now, I get to share some of my favorite photos from the trip, and the reason I will never stray far from the Colorado Plateau:  the canyons.  Skinny, wide, dry or wet - I love them all!

An unassuming entrance...

...to Zebra, an aptly-named and true slot canyon, located off Hole-in-the-Rock-Road:

Next, in Cottonwood Wash, located on the east side of the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef NP - hiked later in the day after my Duffrey Mesa painting:

Holy Batman - another photo of me (hiking in Tevas for the win!)

 

The chockstone that ended the day's hike for us that day...

And, finally - White Canyon, located on the western edge of Cedar Mesa and not far from Lake Powell:

Climb down into White Canyon

 Abstract reflection in pool

 Wayne under old log...which was deposited there by flood water, a reminder that narrows like these are deathtraps during flash floods

The money shot:  beginning of the narrows section known as the Black Box, and the end of our hike that day:

The next morning's hike down Gravel Canyon, a tributary in White Canyon, and next to last day of the trip:

Thank you, dear readers, for allowing me to share my canyon obsession with you via these photos.  I hope you enjoyed them!

A trio of paintings along Cascade creek - plein air, pastel

Finishing touches and photographs, finally, for the paintings done over the weekend's trip.

Orange Lichen and the Green Pool - 12x12" - plein air
pastel on dark brown cardstock
© S.Johnson

Thursday afternoon's painting, done about 30' from our campsite right along the creek.  There were so many fun things going on here that I had no trouble deciding on this as my first painting.  Some new challenges for painting water as well, such as being able to convey the effect of underwater bubbles and turbulence produced by the little fall of water passing through the channel of boulders.  The foreground pool appealed to my abstract gene, and then there is the river itself.

And the boulder, with its fissures and color variations, including some bright orange lichen, which ultimately inspired the sort of unusual title for this painting.

Embankment Aspen and Shadows - 11x8.5"
pastel on maroon cardstock
© S.Johnson

Another view right from the campsite, looking up and across the creek.  This is aspen country, so it was a given that they had to figure into at least one painting.  This was Friday morning's painting, done before breakfast.  I was reminded again of what a challenge it is to try and depict the massed greens of a forest - in this case, aspen, spruce, fir and probably some ponderosa pine.  

Fallen Rock and Tree - 8.5x11"
pastel on turquoise cardstock
© S.Johnson

Friday afternoon's painting, done a mere 15' from last weekend's painting "Creek Cascade".  Wayne and I had both been fascinated by the fact this full-grown tree was coming right up out of a large slab of limestone.  Strong shadows and patches of rust-colored moss - along with that tangle of roots - made it a fun challenge to paint.  The hardest part was dealing with the shadows, which changed by the minute:  by the time I'd finished the painting, the blue shadows had covered most of the creek.

We had great weather on Thursday and Friday, and because of the long hike we did on Friday, I'd planned to spend Saturday painting some aspen and road views I'd scouted out.  Alas, clouds rolled in early and stayed late, killing the light and dramatic shadows I wanted to paint.  So, I went out with my camera instead and spent a few hours photographing the creek..

...Wait:  hadn't I recently mentioned that I seldom take photos of moving water because they just don't do justice and aren't inspiring to paint from?   That's true.   That wasn't the intent with these photos, as you'll see in tomorrow's post, which I will dedicate just to this subject.

Here are a few flora and fauna photos from the weekend's hikes:

Blue and White Columbine in profile - one can never have enough photos
of this beautiful wildflower

Another native orchid!  Species unidentified

Fritillary species

Common Ringlet

male blue - unidentified species

Common Arctic - they seldom land and are very wary, so this was a luck shot indeed

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!

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: