Two paintings in Sears Invitational

If you are in the St. George Ut area and want to see a terrific art show, stop by the Eccles Fine arts Gallery on the Dixie State College campus. Hundreds of paintings are on exhibit in the annual Robert and Peggy Sears Invitational Art Show show which features invited artists from all over the country. I am pleased to have two new watercolor paintings on exhibit. Both are full-sheet paintings done in the transparent style and are available for sale with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the College museum. The paintings are: "Where the River Turns" a painting of Zion National park, and "Where Two Streams Meet" depicting the confluence of the Santa Clara and Virgin Rivers south of St. George. Jeremy Winborg received the best of show and purchase award at this year's event.

Southern Utah History through Paintings

I have always enjoyed doing paintings of the early pioneer era of southern Utah. Especially fun is creating a painting where I bring to life a moment in history using research and my imagination. As tonight's invited "Third Thursday" speaker at the St. George Art Museum I prepared a powerpoint showing how I create a historical painting from research to the painting process. Two of the featured paintings were the murals I created for the Washington County Library. Those involved an especially long research period followed by a unique painting method using oils, instead of my usual watercolors. After mounting belgian linen to a hardboard panel, I used the wall of my storage unit as an easel, nailing the panel in position, and painting vertically. Why the storage unit? My studio is too small to accomodate a 4 ft by 8 ft painting! Why oils? too big for watercolor paper. I showed slides of the painting process as the painting progressed from early sketches and planning through painting and completion. It was fun to look back on that project as well as other historical paintings, some of which are on display at the museum through May 25, 2012.


Roland Lee at work on his mural for the Washington County Library

Drawing Workshop

Drawing is fundamental to all forms of art. And yet, some artists shy away from it. This workshop helped us focus on why drawing is important, how to capture the essence of a subject quickly, and how to see values. A great group of artists joined for two days of intensive drawing which included both studio and outdoor sketching. Our subjects ranged from flowers and shrubs, to buildings and structures, and finally to figures. Thanks to all the great artists who participated: Mark Rose, John Mangels, Carol Spriggs, Gianna Dryer, Sharon Cannon, and Barbara Marchant. (photos by John Mangels)
Each of used our sketchbooks and pencil to capture this old St. George grainery building with a 10 minute sketch.