Grand Canyon Waterfall

In early June I went on a white water rafting trip down 188 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.  What an adventure!  The white water rafting was a blast and the scenery spectacular.  We hiked to some absolutely beautiful waterfalls including this one.

Something about the immense size of the canyon walls demanded that I paint much larger than I usually do.  This is a full sheet of watercolor paper, 22 x 30".  I painted it standing up at an easel using 1 1/2" brushes.  Although I am usually much more comfortable painting small, there is something amazingly liberating about painting on a larger scale; one has to let go of all the details and stop fussing.  This is a new venture for me and one I want to follow.  Stay tuned to see what comes next!

Cambodian Market Scene

This spring I decided to go out of my comfort zone and paint this portrait of a wonderful lady I saw in an open air market near Siem Reap, Cambodia.  She was so gracious in allowing me to take a photograph of her.  I loved her beautiful face framed by such a wonderfully striped and checked turban.  I couldn't resist the patterns and colors of her blouse and slacks.  There she perched carefully selecting from amongst the colorful and fresh vegetables so artfully placed in piles along the dusty road.

Although I have never painted a portrait before, this was such a fun experience.  I enjoyed every minute of it.  Of course, I had to laugh because when I finished the painting, I saw that I had used a pretty standard European model for the structure of the portrait.  Think of European portraits of nobles standing or sitting in front of a draped column with a landscape in the far distance and surrounded by objects that say something about who they were.  Here is the column, the drape, the objects.  Having trained as an art historian and working in a museum, I guess I can't get to far away from what I know!  I also had a small giggle because even though my Cambodian lady actually was picking the red apple, I hadn't really paid attention to this when I painted it.  Associations and layers of meaning?  Just a passing though.  I hope you like her as much I.  

On the Road to the White Place

I continue to return to paintings of New Mexico.  There is something of the landscape and my 2009 trip that continues to inspire me.  At the time I had hoped to be able to sketch and paint at Georgia O'Keeffe's home in Abiquiu, but I learned from the guide before the ticketed tour that this was not allowed.  The tour is beautifully managed and fascinating and since the property is so small, I could understand why it would not be possible.  The guide was very helpful and told me of other places where Georgia painted in the area.  One, not far away, was the White Place.  To get there I drove along a winding road brilliantly lit by golden cottonwoods set against an intensely blue sky.

The scene stayed with me and about a year later I tried to capture the scene in pastel during a workshop with Wolf Kahn that I was lucky enough to attend at the National Academy of Design School in New York one snowy January.   I wanted to take what I learned in the workshop and see what I could make of this memory.  This is my third attempt and I like to think I have caught the moment.