I am grateful to Doug and Marci Topham who purchased two of my big originals for their home. The paintings include a painting of the St. George LDS Temple as well as a landscape of Zion National Park.
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| Doug and Marci Topham purchased two Roland Lee original watercolors which were framed splendidly by my framer Diane Cliff. |
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| Artist Roland Lee will be one of the plein air painters at the 2024 Zion Plein Air Art Invitational |
Roland Lee will be one of 15 noted plein air artists painting in the 2024 Zion Plein Air Art Invitational. The event begins Nov. 4 and runs through Nov. 9 . Artists will paint in the park daily and their will be daily painting demonstrations at the Worthington Gallery in Springdale. Roland will be doing a demo on Thursday November 7 at 11:30pm. Art enthusiasts are welcome at no charge.
A Virginia Howard painting was purchased by Roland Lee at the Dixie Watercolor Society Fall Exhibit held at Gallery 35 in St. George Utah.
At the recent DWS Fall Exhibition, a painting by Virginia Howard was puchased by Roland Lee. |
| A Virginia Howard painting was purchased by Roland Lee |
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| Venna Barrett with artist Roland Lee and her new painting "River to the Angels." |
21 instructors and 50 attendees came together for 4 days of instruction, demonstrations and outdoor painting at the 2024 "Plein Air Utah Rendezvous" this week. What a wonderful experience enjoying perfect early-fall weather in some of the most beautiful landscapes in Utah. I enjoyed working with some great watercolor students and professionals during those four days. I appreciate Kathy Cooper, who came all the way out from North Carolina to paint with me today.
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| Roland Lee and Kathy Cooper |
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| A young lady named Lindsey helping me on one of my paintings |
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| Painting along the Provo River near Heber |
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| Painting below Mt. Timpanogos |
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| Roland Lee painting in the mountains |
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| Travis Humphreys (center) with daughter Sienna and artist Roland Lee |
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| Roland Lee at the Gold River Gallery in Cedar City, UT |
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| Gold River Gallery front door |
It was a pleasure to meet new collectors, Doug and Marci Topham. They studied my paintings online and purchased two of my original paintings for their home. I am always grateful to those who love my work.
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| "Zion Canyon Motif" watercolor by Roland Lee |
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| "Dreams by the River" watercolor by Roland Lee |
It was fun to have my painting "Free Fallin'" win the Patrons Choice Award at the Gallery 35 show in St. George Utah.
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| "Free Fallin'" wins Patron's Choice Award |
I am grateful to the Fairbanks family for purchasing one of my oil paintings of a dry wash located in Kayenta Utah. It is always rewarding to see one of my pantings find a new home.
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| Steve and Thalene Fairbanks with their new Roland Lee painting |
I delivered about six new paintings to the Thunderbird Foundation Gallery at the Maynard Dixon Property in Mt. Carmel, UT. Gallery director, Susan Bingham, has done an excellent job selecting artists and displaying their work in her spacious art gallery. I appreciate having her carry my work. It is a real honor having my work displayed on the same walls as artists Matt Smith, Glenn Dean, and John Lintott.
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| Roland Lee and Susan Bingham stand by Roland's display wall in the beautiful Thunderbird Foundation Gallery on the Maynard Dixon property. |
Outdoor Painter - Plein Air Today Magazine
My painting "Symbol of Freedom" is featured in Plein Air Magazine's newsletter Plein Air Today, "How 9 Plein Air Artists Honor the Fourth of July."
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| Roland Lee Painting in Plein Air Magazine Plein Air Today article |
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| Roland Lee at the Zion Plein Air Art Invitational |
The Zion Plein Air Art Invitational will happen again this year in the fall. I am pleased to be one of 15 artists to participate in the November 4-9, 2024 art event. Sponsored by the Zion Forever Project and the Worthington Gallery in Springdale, the six-day event will feature daily painting demonstrations, wet paint sale, and auction. Plan to be there.
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| Roland Lee Zion Plein Air Art Invitational |
My friend Steve Manwaring and I enjoyed a couple of days at my "Studio in East Zion" and were able to paint in Zion National Park both days. With the temperature over 100 degrees in St. George, it was nice to enjoy temperatures in the 80's, along with shade and a cool breeze in Zion.
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| Steve Manwaring plein air painting in Zion National Park |
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| Roland Lee plein air painting in Zion National Park |
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| Roland Lee "Studio at East Zion" with my "Art Assault Vehicle" a 1988 Toyota pickup with camper. |
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| John and Summer Stratton with their new painting by Roland Lee |
I was please to have John and Summer Stratton stop by the Gallery 35 las Saturday and purchase an original watercolor "Zion's Approach" for their home. Summer is also a watercolor painter. I am so grateful to every collector for their interest in my paintings.
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| Roland Lee plein air painting in Zion National Park |
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| James Barrett and Roland Lee |
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| Venna Barrett with Roland Lee painting just purchased |
Venna Barrett and her son James purchased my painting, "Walking Through Time." James works for SpaceX on the Starlink program and has hiked Angels Landing in Zion Park many times. He and his mother Venna are wonderful art collectors and avid hikers.
I was pleased that my old painting buddy, Steve Manwaring, stopped by and purchased a small painting I had done on location in Zion Park. He and I have scheduled a couple of on-location painting trips in the future.
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| Steve Manwaring and Roland Lee with plein air painting |
I was pleased to sell this painting at the Gallery 35 today to some collectors from Texas.
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| "Kolob Canyon Rising" sold to the Watsons at Gallery 35. |
I am thrilled with my new studio arrangement in east Zion National Park. I have converted one of our cabins to a permanent studio and we three days up there each week. Here are a couple of paintings I completed in the new studio this month.
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| Roland Lee painting done in my east Zion Studio |
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| Roland Lee painting done in my east Zion Studio |
I am enjoying spending three days a week at my cabin studio at east Zion National Park. My studio is working out just fine, plus I have been going into Zion each day to do some plein air painting. It is working out so well I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.
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| "Lone Pine" painted en plein air in Zion National Park. |
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| Roland Lee painting done on location in Zion. |
My painting "Resting Peacefully" was accepted into the Associates only online exhibit which runs from June 6 to August 20, 2024. The painting is on the AWS YouTube page.
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| "Resting Peacefully" watercolor by Roland Lee. American Watercolor Society Associates show. |
Plein Air Salon Semi-finalist. I am one of 184 artists who received First Place in separate categories of the monthly "Plein Air Salon" competition in 2023. We are now semi-finalists for the annual awards which will be presented at PACE conference May 20-24, 2024. My chances are slim, but its an honor to make it this far out of the 1000's of entries. The competition is sponsored by Plein Air Magazine.
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| Roland Lee semi-finalist in $50,000 13th annual Plein air Salon Art Competition |
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| Roland Lee semi-finalist in $50,000 13th annual Plein air Salon Art Competition |
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| Roland Lee semi-finalist in $50,000 13th annual Plein air Salon Art Competition |
The Zion National Park Plein Air Art Invitational is on again November 9 - 14, 2024 and I have once again been invited as one of the 15 participating artists. The popular event was cancelled during the Covid years but has now been revived by the Zion Forever Project in cooperation with the Worthington Art Gallery in Springdale, Utah. Don't miss it.
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| Roland Lee is one of 15 artists invited to the 2024 Zion National Park Plein Air Invitational |
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| Finally at work in my permanent studio at East Zion |
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| My cabin studio at East Zion |
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| Roland Lee painting en plein air in east Zion National Park |
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| Roland Lee painting en plein air in east Zion National Park |
It's always a joy to find out one of my paintings makes it in to one of the big shows. My painting, "Hope of Dawn," was juried into the 2024 International Juried Watercolor West exhibition. The 56th Annual International Exhibition will be displayed July 6 - August 3, 2024 at Coastline College in Southern California.
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| "Hope of Dawn" watercolor by Roland Lee. Watercolor West 56th Annual International Exhibition |
I am excited to learn that my painting "Through Canyons Like This" was juried into the Utah Watercolor Society Spring 2024 Open Exhibition. This show will be on display at the Visual Art Institute in Salt Lake City, UT starting May 10 through June 13, 2024. If you get a chance stop by and see the show.
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| "Through Canyons Like This" juried in to the UWS Spring open exhibition |
We had a great master class in March at "The Art Place' studio. All six students are upper-level artists, so it is a joy to work with them. The artists included: Max Birnbaum, Karen Bettilyon, Shari Cannon, Connie Madsen, Virginia Howard and Teresa Larson. I did a watercolor demonstration of Zion National Park using a reference photo I shot there.
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| Watercolor demo by Roland Lee at March master class. |
The Dixie Watercolor Society enjoyed attendance of 387 people at their Spring Show reception March 9. Organized by show chairman Cheryl Sachse, the show "Splash of Color" featured 60 artists who contributed 147 paintings. The show will hang at the St. George Art Museum through May. Be sure to stop by and see it. I was grateful to win "Best of Show" for my painting, "Shopping in the Casbah."
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| Roland Lee, Best of Show, St. George Art Museum Splash of Color DWS Show |
I was invited to speak to a group of about 35 residents of The Meadows, a retirement community. I showed via PowerPoint how I conceived and painted a number of paintings representing the history of southern Utah and the pioneer town of St. George.
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| Nellie and Roland Lee with Ken and Janet Reber holding a Roiland Lee painting. |
My daughter, Jana Lee Cherry, and I enjoyed our sunny southern Utah weather by going out to the sand dunes in Warner Valley to plein air paint. We had a great time together and were able to come away with some fun paintings. The only hitch came when we tried to leave and ended up getting stuck in some very deep dry sand. I sunk my "art assault vehicle" up to the axels and needed to get a little assistance from a passer-by who had a wintch and a tow rope. Live and learn!
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| Jana Lee Cherry with her plein air sketchbook painting |
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| Roland Lee plein air painting in the sand dunes near St. George UT |
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| Roland Lee art assault vehicle stuck in the sand. 1988 Toyota pickup with 1992 Six-Pac camper. |
