Winter in the Grand Canyon

 Here is a recent 9×12″ oil painting inspired from a hike last March.  It was an overcast day but the sun was illuminating the snow on the south rim.  This was about a mile down-trail from Indian Gardens, as my wife and I made our way back to the south rim after spending two nights at Phantom Ranch.  In my …

Finishing Touches

After a few weeks of checking out  my painting on my living room wall and a valuable critique by an artist friend, I made the finishing touches on my big Grand Canyon painting.  The changes may seem minor but they helped keep the center of interest just that, the most important area of the painting without other areas distracting from …

Fireplace Springs

When I thought I knew of all of the trails in Prescott, I found another gem.  I heard about Fireplace Springs from a friend and decided to find it.  This trail was not in any of my books but I found it on Sharlot Hall Museum’s website, of all places.  Check it out: http://sharlot.org/archives/maps/trailmaps/index.html.  My wife and I parked at …

“Ponderosa”

 “Ponderosa” is a 12×16 oil painting I just completed this morning.  I’ve included the charcoal sketch I used as a reference for the painting and the original source of inspiration, a photograph taken near Flagstaff May of 2009 during early morning.  As you can see, the painting has changed significantly from the photograph, which was my intention.  I don’t want …

9th Annual Employee Art Show

I am participating in our 9th Annual Employee Art Show at the Frame & I Gallery.  You are invited to join us for our reception during the 4th Friday Art Walk, October 22, 6-8pm.  See you there!

Secret Canyon

Today, my wife Denise and I went to Sedona to hunt down some fall colors.  What better place to find them than in Secret Canyon?  We were a little early for peak fall colors, but we were pleased with the color we found.  The secret about this place is that it is not crowded.  We only saw four other people …

Fossil Creek Day Hike

I took a break from schoolwork to be refreshed by the beauty of Fossil Springs.  I was last here about five years ago and since then, the dam has been demolished to the normal creek flow level.  This was part of an effort to make the creek wild again.  The tempature of the water was warm enough to swim in …

Surprise!! More Grand Canyon images.

I had a little spare time to go through some photos I took last May from Shoshone Point.  I am looking forward to doing this more often, looking through my photos, editing them and thinking about sketching them for possible oil paintings.  I have been very busy lately writing my thesis, and I have just sent in my first draft to a …

Sketches

Cedar Ridge From Hermit Trail From Hermit Trail II Kaibab Juniper from Kaibab Trail Here are the charcoal sketches I mentioned in my last post.  I worked from photographs, using about a one-inch piece of compressed charcoal.  Each drawing measures about 12×10 inches.  The idea behind doing this step is to extract the essence of the place from the photo.  …