Blog

Sometimes I like to show, and write about pieces that have been favorites.

When I first moved to North Arizona from upstate New York, the high desert environment was a whole new world!

It admittedly took me a while to become used to the exposed rock, the sparse vegetation, the prickly flora, and the brilliant earth colors.

I did a lot of throw away paintings on the learning path! One of my successful pieces done with new eyes is this pastel, on a pathway near an iconic landmark of Sedona.

"Half Moon Path", pastel, 24x20. 

One of the challenges in this painting was to have the center of interest be in the light struck bare-branched trees. I wanted to have them surrounded with, but not be detracted from the brilliant colors of the Sedona landscape . So, I accomplished this by having a very high contrast between the trees and the dark background of the cliffs.

Notice that there are many different strokes used in this. Heavy , applicationcolor used for the cliffs, a more blended approach in the sky,

delicate strokes for the branches over a soft massing, and sweeping horizontal strokes for the pathway.

"Half Moon Path" will be shown at the Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Real Estate offices March 5 through August, 2018, and available for sale.