Unfinished Phelps Lake on the easel.

Unfinished Crater Lake on the easel.

FINISHING THE PAINTINGS

I am coming down the home stretch on both the Crater Lake and Phelps Lake paintings. Both have developed rather quickly. I find most times the quicker the painting is done, the better it is.

Probably the hardest part of Phelps Lake was getting the correct atmosphere between the foreground and background. Many glazes of blue/pink haze have gone in to get it right. The blues of the lake contrasted with the oranges and reds of the marshland really makes this painting. However, I also included an Osprey in the foreground, which is the real center of interest.

My son walked in, saw the painting and said "Dad, your paintings are getting better". Some time ago, he kept telling me to put some wildlife in my paintings. Since I have followed that suggestion, maybe he is getting more biased.

Larry and Mary Hayworth

IN THE STUDIO

Today I was pleasantly surprised that my solo show in Mountain View was listed in the local paper's (San Jose Mercury News) Things To Do Today section...not just the run of the mill weekly arts calendar.

The Crater Lake painting, now named "Soaring Between Two Blues" is developing faster than expected. I had this painting in the back of my mind for over half a year. Frequently the best work is what happens quickest. Time to set it aside for awhile and digest what I need to do to finish it off.

Last fall, during my visit to the "Arts for the Parks" show in Jackson, Wyoming, I spent some time with old childhood friends, Larry and Mary Hayworth. Larry used to be a coach at the college I attended in East Texas. He is now a businessman in Jackson and his wife works for the Chamber of Commerce.

During my stay, Larry and I hiked up to Phelps Lake which is in Teton National Park. Along the way, we ran into one of Larry's friends, Steve Iopst, the assistant superintendent of Teton National Park. The view at the Phelps Lake overlook is breathtaking. I decided at that time to do a painting of the area, so it goes on the easel today!

Larry and Steve Iopst, the asst. superintendent of Teton Natl Park.

Phelps Lake overlook.

Paint-out in Jackson Square.

CRATER LAKE

Around this time of year I start thinking about doing several paintings for the annual "Arts for the Parks" show in Jackson, Wyoming. This is one of the richest and most prestigious juried shows for realist art in the U.S. I have been a finalist in past years.

I was a finalist in the new "Mini-50" show last year, so decided to attend the opening reception. They always have the reception at the beautiful Jackson Lake Lodge in Teton National Park. During this same time they hold the Jackson Art Festival, including a quick draw paint-out in Jackson Square.

I have always wanted to do a painting of Crater Lake in Southern Oregon. My family for the most part is from the Medford and Southern Oregon area, so I have visited Crater Lake a number of times, including flying over it in a small airplane. Soon after the Arts for the Parks show, I ran across a picture I had taken of the lake in 1972. Suddenly realized how I wanted to paint Crater Lake but put off doing it until today.

Miniature "untitled" 5x5 inches.

Miniature "untitled" 5x5 inches in a frame.

MINIATURES

I have been juried into several international "miniature" shows the last year. I hadn't done many miniatures before, and they were all lot of fun to paint.

There are different views on what a miniature painting is. The shows I was in limited the size to about an 11x14 or smaller. Others, such as the Hilliard Society states that, generally, paintings should not be larger than 5 x 7 inches [or 35 square inches, or 24 inches when dimensions are added together], inclusive of framing. A good miniature web site is the World Federation of Miniaturists. Also check out Art in Miniature.

Well, I decided to do some 'real' miniatures and am having a blast! Two are complete, and I plan to do at least a half dozen more over the next few weeks. They are all 5x5 inches, and I have found some beautiful frames for them.

Almost finished "Bridalveil Falls" on the easel.

YOSEMITE DAY 3

On the way home, stopped to do a painting of Bridalveil Falls. This falls runs year round as it drains a large area of the Sierra high country. It drops 650 feet from a "hanging valley" carved by glaciers during the last ice age.

I stopped further along the Merced River and did a quick study of the river as it begins to tumble out of the valley. It was raining off and on, but mainly on, so I huddled under the back hatch of my car to finish the paintings. Since acrylics are water soluble, you have to be careful the rain doesn't streak the painting.

Almost finished "Sentinel Rock"

Me at the Yosemite Renaissance show.

YOSEMITE DAY 2

It was a nice partly cloudy day here in Yosemite. In the morning I headed back towards the west end. Found a nice spot along the Merced River with Sentinel Rock in the background. Sentinel Rock rises about 3,000 feet above the valley floor, most of it straight up! It was a "big" scene and not conducive to plein air, but went for it anyway.

The Yosemite Renaissance Reception was this evening. The Yosemite Renaissance juried show runs the gamut of art. There is everything from abstract to realistic paintings, photographs, silk screens, and fabric. It was a good show and the place was packed wall to wall, including the superintendent of Yosemite Park. The show will be in the park until May 4, then travels to various venues in the San Joaquin Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.

Along the Merced with Sentinel Rock in the background.

It was sleeting and snowing on my easel.

Almost finished "Merced Pool " on the easel.

Almost finished "El Capitan " on the easel.

YOSEMITE DAY 1

On the way to Yosemite this morning to attend the Yosemite Renaissance Reception on Friday and do some painting. I usually take the motor home but decided at the last minute to stay at Yosemite Lodge instead. Arrived around noon and decided to do a painting of the Merced River at the west end of the valley. I have always loved the deep greens, yellows, and sienna's of some of the deep pools as the Merced flows through Yosemite Valley. The colors stand in sharp contrast to the grayish walls of Yosemite Valley. So it was about time I did a plein air of it!

A front had come through the night before and it was partly cloudy. About half an hour into the painting, the clouds moved in and it began to sprinkle. As I was painting with water soluble acrylic paints, I was worried it might ruin the painting. I stuck it out and then it began to sleet and snow! It wasn't too heavy and passed fairly quickly, so the painting was finished. I wanted to put a demo on the web site, so for the first time, took photos of each step of the painting.

After checking into Yosemite Lodge, I was off to do another painting before the sun got too low. I headed back towards the west end of the valley, because that was where the sun was.

I ended up in a meadow below El Capitan. El Capitan is one of the largest exposed pieces of granite in the world. It attracts rock climbers from all over and is considered one of the best rock climbs in the world.

There were good scenes to paint in every direction, I ended up painting the top of El Capitan as the storm clouds swirled and the sun hit the edge. The clouds started moving in again, I lost much of the light, started raining, and getting colder. So, I finished the painting and headed for the Lodge.

Unfinished "Morning Drink" on the easel.

From Kingsbury Grade

LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA

It's off to Lake Tahoe, California, with the family for Presidents Day weekend. I managed to find a little quiet spot close to our rental cabin for a quick plein air. There was lots of snow around, and the view from up Kingsbury Grade was spectacular. The sun was getting low and to the southwest. It cast a slight pink color on the lake which was quite different than the deep blues you normally see in Lake Tahoe.

Well, it had to be quicker that I hoped as I started losing my light about 15 minutes into the painting. A snow storm was starting to blow in. So, I had to make it a fairly rough color study and leave it at that.

At the Ice Park

OURAY, COLORADO DAY 4

Set up my easel close to the annual Ouray Ice Festival. I figured a little plein air painting at the festival might draw a few to the solo show and reception that evening. (It worked a little.) I painted the part of the ice canyon where sheets of ice hung over the edge like curtains on a stage. Ice climbers were all around trying to scale the 50 foot walls of ice.

The reception for the show was this evening. Probably 30-40 came to the show.

Along the Uncompahgre

Portrait of Sneffells.

OURAY, COLORADO DAY 3

I had scouted places to paint the previous day, so knew exactly where I wanted to go to start the day.

Early morning found me painting on a bridge over the Uncompahgre River. Although it was already 9 o'clock, it was cold...at least freezing or below! I brought my acrylics for this trip as they are easier to travel with. My water spray bottle started freezing up so I couldn't keep the paint wet enough. I had to work fast before everything, including me froze! I think I captured the moment, though.

Drove to Telluride and took some photos along the way. On the way, I decided to come back to do a painting along Dallas Divide which has a spectacular view of the San Juan Mountain Range.

After lunch in Telluride, as earlier planned, I stopped and did a plein air of Mount Sneffells as seen from Dallas Divide.

Well, since it is so cold, I don't have to get up too early next morning to paint!

OURAY, COLORADO DAY 1

Flew into Montrose and arrived late in Ouray, Colorado to kick off my solo show at the Ago Gallery. I also wanted to spend some time doing some plein air and gather studies for future paintings of the beautiful San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado.

http://www.ouraycolorado.com/