A Decade of Learning to Paint.

It has been an interesting journey since retiring from the National Park Service, and fully engaging my life-long passion for painting. It was very helpful for me to have retired near the beautiful resort town of Sedona, AZ. This gave me access to local galleries, artist associations, and a fantastic art school and associated gallery called the Sedona Arts Center. This is where I first took a few, "jump start my art career," workshops and got to meet a lot of the local artists. Within a  year I was juried into the members gallery and have been showing there since. I painted at least five days a week for the first 3-4 years and  then settled down to a more balanced life of just painting a lot. My early work was done in the studio, as I had not been exposed to the concept of plein air painting (on location). I met an outstanding local artist named Gregory Hull who painted from life most of the time.  I took a workshop from him and have painted with him occasionally since. He has taught me a lot and I still consider him to be the most talented artist I have ever met. I found that other local artists were also becoming interested in plein air painting.  In 2003, I formed the Sedona Plein Air Painters. After painting with this small group of local artists for several years. A fellow plein art painter and I formed the The Arizona Plein Air Painters, a state-wide organization that rapidly grew to over 80 members. I served two terms as APAP's first President.

 I  painted primarily near Sedona, the Grand Canyon, the Arizona mountains and deserts, and a few places in Utah. Painting on location has taught me to "see" the landscape differently. I see colors in the shadows and view everything I see in value blocks created by light and shadow. This newly developed skill has allowed me to more carefully and successfully design my larger studio paintings.

Soon, I began to be invited to participate in plein air festivals and other juried events. These have been great experiences and have put me in contact with top artists from all over the country. I feel blessed that others feel that my paintings have improved over the years as sales and prices have continue to rise, and the list of collectors of my art has increased. Am I now totally contented with my art?  No way Jose! Painting is now ingrained in my soul, and I will seek to continually learn and improve on my painting skill.

 

                                  My first Grand Canyon Painting:  2002
My wife and I were driving back from Page, AZ one evening when we encountered this fantastic lightning storm along the East Rim.  I took a open shutter timed photo and caught this image for the painting reference. I used my artist license to move the lightning bolt from the right side of the image to the middle for effect.