Maynard Dixon Residency #5

Paria Canyon in southern Utah is worth the half hour, bone jarring, dust covered drive from the highway. Movies were filmed back in there and you can see why. As you turn yourself around in a circle, the rocks vary in color dramatically. One location for filming could easily look like many on the screen. This watercolor was painted at a turn in the road while things were quiet in the morning. Remote as it was, a caravan of ATVs arrived as I was nearly finished. 30 of them slowly and kindly drove past me with many of them apologizing for the cloud of dust. I was glad to have gotten much of what I had hoped to paint on the paper as the procession slowly moved along.

Some of you have asked me about the annual Maynard Dixon Country show that I attended last year in UT. It is a fantastic way to see museum quality art that will most likely never be seen again in public. Some of the very best artists of our time bring their work to this show and you get to view it in a lovely gallery situation. Yes, no red velvet ropes or museum guards lurking. A lot of the big names in landscape painting are there to talk with during the opening. It’s a heady experience for an art lover… and the weather is great that time of year.

I like Glenn Dean’s paintings for this year’s show. Click Here
More MDC show info: Click Here

Thanks to Thunderbird Foundation!

I have exciting news today! I was accepted for an artist residency at Maynard Dixon’s historic property in Mt. Carmel, UT near Zion National Park. I started a series out there last year and have been working towards returning to continue the project. The Thunderbird Foundation’s generosity will help make it happen.

This 5 x 7” studio painting is based on a plein air watercolor from that series. It may be one of the 2 pieces I choose to include in the Arthouse at the Jones Center’s 5 x 7 invitational, opening May 12.

“Creek Dreams” and Plein Air Easels- Artwork Essential EasyL

Hiking out of this canyon, I blew out my old hiking boots like a set of well-worn tires. I wondered why my legs felt so funny, but painting buddy, Jill Carver, and I kept trudging upwards and I never knew till I took off the boots in the parking lot. I love these colors in winter when the leaves are off the Sycamores. This 15” x 22” watercolor is titled, “Creek Dreams”. Jill’s work can be seen at at Wally Workman and InSight Gallery.

**Note for Artists. Artwork Essentials’ EasyL manufactures some of my favorite plein air easels. I own two different sizes. The Versa, shown here, is their largest easel and is great for large panels and windy conditions. Having your easel dump over fully loaded not only messes up the painting and gear, but can break an expensive piece of equipment. This is my steadiest set-up. A large palette will fit inside the Versa beautifully. Their smaller box, the Lite, lives up to its name when needing to pack smaller and lighter for longer hikes. I love their umbrella as well!

Hill Country Movement

Painted this past week, “Hill Country Movement” was what I needed. The lighting finally is strong enough outdoors that I am excited to paint plein air again. An artist friend, Lynn Cohaganshowed me this location and I just love the movement and color there. With “windy” on the road sign, it can be a challenging site to avoid moving gear. My board wiggled in the 20 mph gusts and my brush sometimes connected with my paper in unexpected ways. It’s a fascinating place. I can’t wait to return.

The Never Ending Vacation

You know those vacations that are memorable and exciting at the time, but the rejuvenation from that vacation fades in a few weeks or sometimes even days? Many of my collectors have told me that they look at my work for a while most days whether it is in their office or home. One of my collectors described it this way. They get transported to another place free to energize their mind and soul. Why do people keep buying art when the economy is so challenging? It’s the never-ending vacation. I love being a part of that.

Collectors place their art in locations that provide solace, stimulation, peace, beauty, or a call to action. Placed by the breakfast table, an encouragement to start the day. Near the phone, a stimulation that provides energy. In the bedroom a solace and peacefulness promoting rest. The living room, it transports the imagination. The workplace needs all of the above. Long after the 3-day weekend’s effects are gone, art provides a need that we all have. We all can use a little art in our lives.

The Plein Air Experience

What’s different about a plein air artist from “normal” people? Painting on location can be wonderfully lovely, but sometimes it has its challenges. There’s something addictive about the experience for those of us who love it. Here’s a couple of snapshots of outdoor painting.

“Fishing the Stillwater” was a treat to paint. The approaching winter cold in SW Montana was held at bay that day, the fly fisherman appeared as if arranged, and the approaching night’s wintry storm had not even a breath of wind to bother us… a truly peaceful scene.

Read a text I sent another plein air artist this summer that prompted her to call me laughing to commiserate. “Ah, painting outdoors. A great start painting in Barry’s pasture. Hills, cows, flowers, crops… A lovely yellow biplane appears low overhead. I wave anticipating the customary dipping of the wing in return. It starts spraying who knows what? I piled my gear into the trunk in a destructive heap. I lost my lens cap. My I-pod broke even before the plane arrived. Geez! But I still feel happy because I got a great start and photos to work from.”

Watercolor Luminosity

It is easy to underestimate the power of luminosity. Part of the unique beauty and power of watercolor is the ability of the paint to allow light to pass through it and reflect light back from the paper. It’s why a watercolor can still be exciting to view in low light when other paintings can't be seen. The various colors have differing abilities to do this and that presents some interesting opportunities.

This painting, "Head on Up", was painted on location at Enchanted Rock in Texas. I love the strong shapes and the directional movement at this park and return often. It's a physically challenging location to get to with painting gear, dog, and extra water, but this view from Turkey Peak Pass is one of my favorites.

Wall Sculpture Ampersand Bord

One of the materials I've been experimenting with for my wall sculpture isAmpersand Aquabord, and I’m really impressed. It is a thoroughly archival masonite board with a clay coat that accepts watercolor.

There are many attractions to use Aquabord for this particular wall sculpture. With an acrylic spray varnish over the watercolor, it is safe to be hung without glass, it can be cut into shapes, and most importantly, I think I will be able to transfer the feel of the original concept with it.

I thought it would be fun to offer these three unframed paintings on Aquabord for sale, priced for a little holiday cheer. They are all 3" x 5" and require no glass or frame. The two "Night Time Burn" paintings are inspired by a series I'm working on for the Hill Country Conservancy. Paintings are $50, plus tax and shipping. Email me at terrimw@sbcglobal.net and I will send an invoice with paypal button. Top painting, "Night Burn II", middle painting, "Along the Stream", bottom painting, "Night Burn I".

For artists: If you paint watercolor wet in wet, you’ll love this product. It’s extremely responsive to the brush and far more forgiving than any watercolor paper. The possibility of repainting a board actually exists with some labor. Tips on their website are a must- read and the company responds to questions. http://www.ampersandart.com

Michaelis Ranch Breakfast

I did this painting on location at Michaelis Ranch SW of Austin. It's a lovely "century" ranch that has been in their family since the late 1800's. Many of the buildings are extremely old, and they raise some fantastic Charolais cattle. I love painting there. This particular plein air watercolor took two visits to finish. The cows were amazingly hungry and did stay to eat a long time, but they move around and the sun changes it's angle making the white cows loose their backlit blue shadows as the day progresses. Also, the drying on the watercolor had gone too far by the time I wanted to place the final shadows on the cows to make them look more 3D. I returned a second day to cows milling around, and the haystack well eaten, but with patience I was able to catch what I was looking for. This 15 x 20" watercolor is titled, "Breakfast!"

I have been asked how I know the shapes and relationships in a painting are right. I can only say that I had extensive training on composition from my professor Morton Grossman, who was trained at the Art Students League in NYC. Most of the principals I learned are in Edgar Paynes book, “Payne On Composition” which you can get a copy of through DeRues in Laguna Beach, CA. It’s not an easy read, but you learn a lot if you work through it. Once you have it in your blood, you will just know it when you see it.

Plein Air Wildflowers

Someone asked about the wildflower paintings I did on location when I was overwhelmed by the beauty. We all hear about Texas wildflowers, especially bluebonnets, and honestly, I thought the hype was overblown until I was standing in a huge pasture on a ranch in the midst of acres and acres of bluebonnets and indian paintbrush. The heady smell, the incredible colors, the breezes causing movements while the heat of the day was rising.... with extreme discipline, I focused on the movement and shape within the landscape that day and feel that I really caught the essence of what was there. There's inspiration for a wall sculpture here.

Maynard Dixon

I love going to a new part of the country to paint, because it recharges my creativity. This painting, "Western Mesa", was done in Mt. Carmel, UT, near where I was staying at Maynard Dixon’s historic studio/home in very early spring. I was allowed to stay on the property for several days, absorbing the work and landscapes that inspired Dixon, Milford Zornes, Ansel Adams, Emil Kosa, and Dorothea Lang and be in the studio they worked in. It was a fantastic experience. I returned there this summer during their annual Maynard Dixon Country show… more about that later.

Watercolor

Why watercolor? I have been asked that many times. The answer? Transparency. Not just optically, but transparent to the artist’s mind, soul, intention, and abilities. It represents freedom to me. Freedom to be myself. Freedom to show my response fully to what I’m experiencing. Freedom to show my creative process.

There is little that you can hide on a watercolor painting that is done freely. The mood, thought process, level of confidence, and technical ability all lay there plainly to the viewer. One slip in concentration, an unintended movement of the hand, forgetting your color or compositional theory, or losing control over water and humidity and the potential artwork becomes scrap. Transparency means your “mistakes” show for all to see and “fixing” them is seldom successful. Fearless or timid, subtle or loud, joyful or joyless, inhibited or free, it is all there for the viewer to behold. The moment is seized and my response to the world at that moment is fixed in time. It rings with authenticity, blowing its horn beyond craft to a connection with the viewer, soul to soul. Transparent. Free.