Mark Shasha, Mark Fehlman, Dan Marshall, Stephanie Hartshorn, Jane Hunt, Aaron Schuerr, Brienne Brown, myself & Kathleen Hudson (l-r)

The house that Kathleen found was perfect for us: lots of bathrooms, rooms for two each, and cement floors!

Jane at the Easel

Kathleen hard at work!

Aaron capturing that elusive purple rock color…

Setting up on the side of the road

While we were painting, a woman asked if she could take my picture while I painted. I’m always happy to oblige. She said she could text me the photos later. That night, I was blown away with the quality of her photo. It captured all of those subtle color shifts with such sharp detail. We were all jealous of her camera and lens!

This is the painting I did that day. I was really drawn to the colors on the wall in shadow. As an extra experiment, I used a double-complement color scheme: reds (Trans Red Oxide, Aliz Crim, Cad Orange) and greens (Viridian, Cad Green). It was amazing to me how I found so many blues and yellows in that limited palette.

Brienne and I were in charge of one dinner. We honored Olena (who couldn’t make it) by making her famous Risotto. We missed her!

No, it’s not a murder scene – it was the homemade pies that are offered for sale inside the National Park. Plus vanilla ice cream, of course!

The display table. Not all paint trips that I have been on have one of these, and I have to admit, they can be problematic. This one was both inspirational and intimidating. In the end, I noticed all of the learning and sharing that went on at the table, and I saw its value.

One of my very favorite parts: geeking out on all the art books that Kathleen brought. Again, a mix of inspiration and intimidation. Actually, let’s just call it something to strive for 🙂

In a desperate effort to avoid the wind, I found this little nook. Sheltered on the leeward side of a hill, plus behind a big pinon tree, it almost worked. Luckily, it had a great long view of the Waterpocket Fold.

One of my favorite things about Plein Air painting: finding handy brush holders. This day, it was sand. At home, its usually snow.

This is the painting I did in my sheltered spot. It is definitely one that I am going to expand into a larger studio piece.

The ubiquitous selfie! I think I’m so happy because my easel didn’t fall over from the wind and I was able to finish my piece.

Another long view of the Waterpocket Fold. The wind was so strong that I actually painted from the cab of the truck. Sorry, honey, it still smells like paint!

Despite the wind, I stopped in by the side of the road to visit with Jane and Brienne as they wrapped up their painting for the night.

Some of our compatriots had enough energy to paint the glorious sunset. Others of us had fun watching!

We all got a “warm/cool of reds” impromptu lecture from Mark Shasha. Very informative and entertaining!

The last day was blissfully still. We all were amazed at how well we painted that day, and then we realized: oh, no wind!! What a difference. Here we are in the Capitol Gorge, looking like an Edgar Payne painting. Instead of the horse & rider decals at the base of the cliff, we have painters at their easels. This speaks more to my experience than the riders. I might need to make a painting about it.

Brienne Brown, in her happy place 🙂

So much fun with these two amazing artists!

This is Kathleen, painting in the shadow of the wall of Petroglyphs. We were all so inspired by the ancient art that watched over us in that canyon.

The ancient art we were so blessed to see. Who created it? I overheard Kathleen telling a visitor that they discovered that most of it was made by women and teenagers. Interesting! In any case, we saw why they would stop there to make their art. It was cool and had a nice elevation from the creek bottom. We felt the kinship.

One of the paintings I did on the last day. The colors and layers of the geology is something I could paint for the rest of my life!