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During the long days of winter, I like to work in a few different ways.

One is to set up fresh flowers, and work from them, and another is to go out and paint en plein air...particularly on warm afternoons. Both of these ways is to keep my work fresh and vibrant.

Another thing that I like to do is to go through my images, and work up pieces that I have been meaning to get to .

Such is the case with " Morning Dazzle", a pastel 12x24.

The painting is actually done from a few different images, gathered during a trip to the heart of the Navajo reservation; near Window Rock.

I did visit the wonderful " window to the sky", and admired the monument to the code talkers.

On this morning, I also took a short hike, and watched how the rising sun illuminated different parts of the landscape. Much of the ground was covered in frost...and I watched it burn off, as the warmth hit the grasses. Where the frost remained, the colors were opalescent.

I wanted to paint the dazzle of the sun just  as it was rising up over the main rock face.

Here is a detail of the upper right area. Notice how the cool blue-greens really contrast with the brilliant bright yellows. The effect is that of a sun flare...and looking in to the rising orb.

The format , which is a double square lends it self to the sweeping quality of the landscape. the dark greens in the middle ground help the back and forth movement across the broad expanse.

It was also nice to paint this bright work on a dreary winter day...kind of a mini-vacation in pastel!

this painting is available from my web site. It is in the "Amazing Arizona "  section .