Inspiration

I'm often asked where I get my inspiration from.  The answer is simple - everywhere.  I live in a beautiful mountain valley in northern Utah so just looking out my window can be inspiring but actually inspiration comes from within.  What I mean is we can get inspired by a garbage can or a torn piece of paper if we are in the frame of mind where we see beauty wherever we look.  The opposite is also true.  Our mental frame of mind influences how we react to the world around us and also how it responds to us.  Or better yet, how we think it responds to us.

Missing the Desert

I miss the desert.  I miss the dry, heat.  NO, not the HOT heat of summer but the dry heat of the other seasons.  My body really likes dry heat.  Since I can't get to the desert right now, I'm bringing the desert to me via some new paintings.  These are a sample of what Utah has to offer.

Busy painting

I've been busy painting but haven't been very good at blogging lately.  I'll post some of the work I've been doing as soon as I get some photos taken.  In the meantime, here is one I'm working on.

Back in my studio again

When I looked at the date of my previous post, I couldn't believe it.  It has been a little over a month since I've painted or posted anything.  Yes, the holidays are one excuse but this year's holidays have been gloriously laid back.  Maybe it is that I needed a break for awhile.  Whatever the reason, I'm back in the saddle (studio) again.  The colors of the paintings are richer.  There was a lot of sunlight coming through the window when I took these photos.

"Balanced Rock at Sunset"

Oil on Linen 12"x16"

"Window in the Rock"

Oil on Linen  20"x16"

Zion Park

One of our favorite places to visit is Zion National Park.  I still remember my first time there and how the amazing canyons and towering rocks took my breath away.  No matter how many times I visit the park, I still find myself filled with awe.  The rocks change right before your eyes.  One time they are dark and almost without color and a few minutes later, they glisten and sparkle with color.  If you wait and are lucky, you might have a gentle fog roll in or a few snow flurries, depending on the season.  All are beautiful and remind me to stop and just enjoy this place we call Zion National Park.

"Zion's Fog"

11x14 oil on panel

Zion National Park

I never get tired of visiting the beautiful national parks that are here in Utah.  Nor do I get tired of painting them.  This is of Zion National Park after a dusting of snow.  Like the season now, it is a taste of what is to come.

"Early Zion Canyon Snow"

11x14 oil on panel

Oil or watercolor?

People ask me what I prefer, oils or watercolors?  I love both.  I truly do!  Each have their own unique characteristic.  I never know when I wake up whether I'll feel the urge to paint with oils or watercolors.  Here is a watercolor that I'm entering in the local chapter of the Utah Watercolor Society.

Storm's Coming

I love summer storms that bring rain to help cool down the hot days.  I especially love looking at clouds as they build and the sheets of rain that follow.

"Storm's Coming"

24"x36"  oil on canvas

Starting to cool down

The temperatures are beginning to cool down with the turn of the calendar.  The high today was 80 and evenings seem to cool off earlier.  This has been an amazing summer once it got started.  We had some days in the low 90's but most were in the 80's with low humidity.  I could adjust to living in this type of weather year around but when living at almost 5000' I know cold and snow are just around the corner.

This small painting reminds me of the color of the season and the darkness that is ahead.

America West Heritage Center - Little Pioneer

Recently a friend posted a photo of her daughter on her Facebook page.  I couldn't help but be inspired and couldn't wait to paint her.  She is one of the many volunteers at the America West Heritage Center in Wellsville, Utah.  As usual a little tweaking but I'll leave that to another day.

"Pioneer Girl"

12x16 oil on canvas

This is a close up of "Pioneer Girl."

Addicted to painting

Hello my name is Sue and I'm an addict.  I'm addicted to painting.  It not only takes my daylight hours but I dream about it at night.  It's all I can do to not run into my studio when I awake in the middle of the night.

"Iris on Gold"

12"x16" oil on canvas

"Red Rocks"

12x16 oil on panel

It was risky

My husband always said he didn't like to fish but that meant that whenever we'd travel all he wanted to do was ride around and explore new areas.  That's fine but it also never gave me any time to paint.  So, as he prepared for a three month sabbatical leave, I presented him and my youngest son with complete fly fishing outfits  - rods, reels, waders, special shoes, flies etc.  It was taking a chance but I was desperate.  I wanted to explore but I also wanted time to just sit and draw or paint.  It worked!!  Bob fell in love with fly fishing and I get to do more painting.  I came upon this young guy one day and knew I had to paint him.

I realized that I wanted to capture for the feeling rather than the specifics of the scene so put him back on my easel.  This is the result.  What do you think? Before or after?

The Joy of Both Watercolor and Oil

It's been awhile since I got out my watercolors.  It's not that I don't like watercolors, I do!  I can't even say I prefer one over the other as I love both watercolor and oils.  When I sit down to paint I follow an inner guide that leads me to one or the other.  It is more instinctual rather than a conscious decision to work in one particular medium.  Lately,  I've been led to play with my watercolors.

Watercolor's bad rap

I have to admit that I love painting both in oils and in watercolors.  Luckily when I started painting I had no idea of the reputation that watercolor had for being hard to work with.  If I had, I probably would have steered clear of it but I didn't hear that it was supposedly the hardest medium to work in until much later.  By then, I realized the reputation was not earned.  Sure, you can't scrape everything off at the end of the day if you don't like your painting but you can take it to the nearest sink and wash almost everything off.

You don't have to paint from light to dark as most people think.  You can lift the darks and add light paint at another time.  You can erase only it is called lifting.  You can also get muddy colors but as one who enjoyed mud, I don't mind when colors get muted.  Mother Nature doesn't mind either.  Just look out any window on a cloudy day.

This painting was lots of fun to paint and I intentionally tried to use a muted palette.  I especially loved the way the sky came together.

Be willing to change

If you've followed any of my posts you have discovered that I will often go back into a painting later and change it.  Some times the change is for the better and some times it is not.  I think the important thing is to be willing to risk change even if something doesn't work out.

This painting below was done intuitively, meaning I did not have any reference photo or scene to work from - just my memory.  Memories are influenced by past and present situations and state of mind.  I have a feeling that I added the fall colors as my way of turning back the clock.  Rather than being in the dead of winter as I am now, I brought the fall colors into my studio and into my life.

Here's the before and the after.  What do you think?

A few years ago a friend and I traveled through some of our great national parks.  This was a stop by a falls in the Grand Teton National Park.  I am enjoying combining brush and palette knife to give an abstract feeling to the scene.

Palette Knives

I love the freedom that painting with a palette knife gives me.  It is impossible to be too precise so capturing the essence or feeling of a place  is easier with large brushes or using just a palette knife.  This painting was done entirely with a palette knife except for the initial underpainting which was a juicy flowing on of color and gamsol.