The 2015 Grand Canyon Celebration of Art

The 2015 Grand Canyon Celebration of Art

I'm delighted to have once again been selected to participate in this event and show. The 2015 Plein Air on the Rim event will begin on September 13th and end with the exciting quick draw and auction on the back lawn of the El Tovar Hotel along the South rim. The gala opening will be on Friday evening September 19, 2015. The show will be on display until the end of the year at the Kolb Studio Gallery until the end of the year.

Last years show was a great success with a record number of paintings sold. This event is held by the Grand Canyon Association as a fundraiser to establish a permanent art venue to house the growing world class collection of Grand Canyon art that is owned by the association and the National Park Service. The first Celebration of Art event was conducted in 2009.  My studio painting for this years show is titled : Finding Peace.  It is a 18x24 oil painting of a view from Vista Encantada on the north rim.

2013 Grand Canyon Celebration of Art

For the fourth year, I was invited to the Annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art event and show. The Grand Canyon Association launched this event in 2009 as a fundraiser to develop a permanent art venue at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Both GCA and the National Park Service have extensive collections of Grand Canyon paintings, the work of both old masters and contemporary painters. The proposed new public venue will serve as an art museum and gallery to showcase the growing collection of Grand Canyon paintings.The annual event is comprised of both a week long plein air painting event  and a longer art show at the Kolb Studio that also contains larger studio paintings.

This years show opened on September 21 and will run until the end of the year. The opening gala was enjoyed by a sold out crowd of art lovers from around the country. Each years' event has grown in popularity and the amount of art sold for the fundraiser.

As a long-time painter of the Grand Canyon, I find this event to be the highlight of my year.  It is wonderful to paint along the rim and meet so many enthusiastic people who have come to see the artists paint. The weather this year was fabulous and the park was crowded with people from all over the world. On some days it was unusual to hear English spoken. Although I do paint in locations where I can been seen, I also like to get off the beaten path so I can become one with the Canyon. This is when I do my best paintings. Art sales were good for me at this show.  My larger studio piece won the Grand Canyon Squire Premier Hotel purchase award. It will be my honor for this special painting to be a part of their collection and adorn the walls of this fine hotel in Tusayan. I look forward to doing more of these shows in the future.

Facing the Dawn  18x24

Artist's Biography

I am primarily a self taught artist. I began painting at an early age and worked my way through college as a textbook illustrator. Because of my love for nature, I chose a career in resource management with the National Park Service.  After I retired from the NPS in 1999, I have been painting full time.  Although perhaps known best for my early paintings of the Grand Canyon and Sedona, I now take frequent painting expeditions to other locations closer to my new home in Northern California, including the North coast, the high Sierras, and the many incredible rivers  nearby.   

I am painting on location more frequently now.  I was a founding member of the Arizona Plein Air Painters and served two terms as the first president.  I am really excited about spending more time painting along the coast and rivers of  Northern California.

Artist Statement

My paintings are the result of experiences in the field that have inspired my sense of awe and appreciation for the incredible beauty of the Western landscape.  I am particularly drawn to moving water and the power of vast open spaces. Whether painting on site or later in the studio, I attempt to capture the quality of light and mood that inspired me at the time I witnessed the scene.  Plein air painting has progressively become a more important part of my artistic endeavor.

Awards and Media Recognition

2010. Paint the Parks Exhibition Top 100 award for two paintings.

2009. Paint the Parks Exhibition Mini 50.

2006. Workshop Magazine; Extreme Plein Air.

2005. Design and installation, Glass Scape Sculpture, Sedona Rouge Resort.

My paintings can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the U.S. England and Australia.

Shows and Events

Sept. 13, 2015-Feb. 2015. Grand Canyon Celebration of Art.

Sept. 13, 2014-Feb. 2014. Grand Canyon Celebration of Art.

Sept. 14, 2012-Jan. 2013.  Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. Invitational event and show.

Feb. 16-Feb. 27, 2011. “Southwest Inspirations”.  Group show, Sedona Arts Center SEG.

Sept. 10-Nov. 11, 2011. Grand Canyon Celebration of Art invitational event and show.

Sept 12-Nov.15,  2010. Grand Canyon Celebration of Art invitational event and show.

Sept. 18-Nov.1, 2009. Grand Canyon Celebration of Art “Modern Masters Show.”

Sept. 13-19, 2009. Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, “Plein Air on the Rim”.

Apr. 1-Nov 15, 2010. Phoenix Airport Art Museum Show, “Landscapes at Your Feet” invitational show:

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2004-2009. Annual Sedona Plein Air Festival, Invitational event and show.

2005.  “Sedona Masters Show”, Invitational Show, Sedona Arts Center Gallery

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. 

The Early Years

Artistic interest runs in my family.  I was drawing constantly as a child. After I was able to visit the few galleries and museums in my area, I decided on oil painting as my media. I bought a book titled " Painting Landscapes and Seascapes by Robert Wood", and it all began. I accomplished my first oil painting of a Laguna Beach seascape when I was 17 years old. In addition to art,  I have also always loved nature and the natural world.  I majored in  wildlife management in college with a minor in illustrating.  While still in college I was offered a position as a ranager in the National Park Service.  Having a lot of college debt, I took the well paying government  job with the idea of being able to paint in my free time.  The free time became less and less available as I worked up the government  food chain. I retired from a great career in the NPS as soon as I was eligible to receive my life-long annuity, which would allow me to finally pursue my ultimate life goal of being an fully dedicated artist. My last position with the NPS was at the Grand Canyon.  My wife and I moved to Cottonwood, AZ and I immediately immersed myself in the world of the artist. Sedona is a great small art town and it allowed me to immediately associate with other artists and take workshops from local successful painters.  It is now over twelve years later and I have traveled some distance on the journey, but I feel that I am not even close to whatever the final destination will look like.

My artistic journey

My Artistic Journey is inspired by my desire to share with fellow art lovers my personal journey of growth and development as an artist. I refer to my artistic growth as a journey because that's what it is, a journey with an unknown finite destination.  I know in general terms what I want to convey to the viewer of my art, but I don't know precisely what paths or steps I will take to better achieve my artist goals.  The journey is about the process of seeking continual improvement and satisfaction. Although other artists, particularly past masters, have influenced my style of painting, the overall "look" of my work has been developed over the 50 plus years since I painted my first seascape near laguna Beach, CA.

Except for taking two plein air workshops from very accomplished painters to refine my ability to paint more effectively on location, I'm a self taught artist.  Self taught is a loose term for it implies that everything that I know, and all of my skill was "discovered" without the help of others. This is not the case at all.  It just means that other than the one illustrating course in college, I was not  formally trained as an artist in an academic institution.  As my journey has progressed, I have visited countless art museums and galleries and have studied the paintings of past and current masters that convey to the viewer some of what is important to me. So I have spent a lot of time dissecting the work of others in order  to seek out how they achieved what is special about each of their great paintings.My work continues to be inspired and influenced by the art of current and past masters and books that they have written.