Library Mural Drawings

I worked up a couple of rough sketches today for the new Washington County Library Painting. I think I've got the idea down, I just need to work out the details. I'm planning a 4' x 8' painting in oils which will be the biggest painting I've ever done. I'm probably crazy, but I really want to do this.



A 10 inch x 20 inch rough "thumbnail sketch"

Historical Paintings for the new Washington County Library

I will be spending the next couple of months working on a commission painting for for the new Washington County Library. I have been researching the history of the libraries in this area from the first Lyceum Reading Room in Pioneer times to today.

I have painted many historical paintings of the southern Utah area in the past, and I especially enjoy the research part of it. This project is a little tougher, because I have to include all four of the former buildings and there has not been much written on the subject. Luckilly I do have some good old photos to use as reference. Over the next couple of months I will try to post my progress.

This is one of my rough thumbnail sketches of the painting figures. I will do dozens of thumbnail drawings trying to work out an effective composition. When I get it all figured out, I will actually schedule a session with costumed models.

Capitol Reef National Park

Ahhh! Doing what I love the most -- being outside in nature with my sketchbook.

Sketchbook drawings of Capitol Reef National Park

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2006
The rest of the families rolled into camp and we set up in the beautiful group camping area for fun and games. The grandkids loved the deer roaming through camp. In the morning I took my travel sketchbook and hiked up the Fremont River Trail. I stopped along the way to enjoy the view as the narrow trail wound higher and higher up the cliffs. Resting in the shade, I did this sketchbook drawing of the valley below. The Fremont River meanders peacefully between the awesome cliffs and towers creating an unbelievable scene.

FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 09, 2006

We enjoyed a wonderful cool night with the rain pelting our tent for several hours. It broke up just long enough about 3:00 in the morning for us to go out and see the full moon peeking out from behind the clouds. As morning broke I took a few photos and did some sketchbook drawings of the old pioneer buildings at the Gifford farm, then took the road toward Panorama Point and made some sketchbook studies of the old twisted Cedar trees and the strange tumbled rock towers that abound everywhere you look.
The sky was filled with huge gathering thunderclouds and made a perfect backdrop for the spectacular scenery. As expected, it wasn't long til the sky opened up and the desert became a glistening lake. I took cover up under some huge boulders and kept right on sketching. This old cedar tree was a perfect model as I studied its twisted branches. It makes me wonder at the raw power nature uses to bend and shape both living things and stone in the desert.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 08, 2006

It rained all the way over to Capitol Reef National Park and let up just long enough for us to set up our tent and settle in. Already dark from the clouds, nightfall began to set in quickly. I grabbed my travel sketchbook and tried to capture some quick pencil sketches of the mule deer who had wandered into the orchard where we were camped. They have learned to stand on their hind legs and reach high to get the juicy apples, and usually bed down in the tall cool grass under the trees.

Reunion at Capitol Reef National Park

About this time each year we have a family reunion of sorts at Capitol Reef National Park. We rent the group campground and spend a few days hiking and introducing the kids to the wonders of the outdoors. What we like most about the campground is that it's surrounded by apple orchards ready to harvest. Not only do we get to pick them but we get to watch the deer come down and feast as high as they can reach too. So tonight we get to spend the night under the stars with a full moon rising over Capitol Dome. As my brother in law Robert Eves says, "One weekend at Capitol Reef in September is better than a month any other time of the year!"



Watercolor Painting of Capitol Reef National Park by Roland Lee.

Thoughts on The Rockin' R at Zions Ponderosa Ranch

I had a chance to do some reflecting today on how rich our lives have been because of those who have gone before us. My nephew just called this morning and asked if he could take his family up to our cabin at Zion this weekend. There's nothing I love more than to see the cabin get used as often as possible. Our own children have so many memories of the place, that it's fun to see the Rockin' R make memories for still another generation.

My wife's parents, Ben and Jane Rogers acquired the 5-acre property back in the early 60's from an old buddy, R.W. Lewis who was developing the Zion Ponderosa Ranch at Zion. Ben picked out a choice spot in a stand of big Ponderosa Pines overlooking a nice canyon. My wife, Nellie and I were still teenagers dating at the time and living in southern California. Together we travelled with her parents to Utah and helped to build the first little one-room cabin on the property.

40 years later, with 5 married children and 15 grandchildren of our own, we can look back on many pleasant and peaceful times spent there. Because of that little chunk of land my family and I have come to know and love the canyons of Zion National Park. We have walked its trails and explored its natural beauty in all seasons. It has become a part of who we are and has shaped our feelings for the land around us. Still today, having travelled all over the world I can return to our cabin at Zion, kick back in my sky chair, and be at peace with the universe.


Maybe its just that I'm getting older, but I'm starting to reflect more and more on the blessings that we have enjoyed throughout our lives, due to the generosity of others. I hope that many years from now when I am long gone, that the Rockin' R cabin on the Zion Ponderosa Ranch will still be a doorway to the wonders of Zion National Park for my great grandchildren.

Hiking the East Rim Trail in Zion

On Saturday I took my son Jim Lee and two of my gransons, Kayson and Christian, on a short hike out to the East Rim trail. Since our Rockin' R Ranch cabin is located adjacent to Zion National Park's east boundary we can easily access the East Rim trail, the Cable Mountain Trail, and the Observation Point trail. (Okay, I admit it, our cabin is in a wonderful spot.) From the top, you can easily see where a little sand wash starts to drop forming the beginning of Echo Canyon. In just about 100 yards the canyon drops from a gentle meadow to a deep gorge hundreds, then thousands of feet deep. This is a photo of Jim, Kayson, and Christian standing near the edge of Echo Canyon.

ROLAND LEE PAINTINGS OF ZION NATIONAL PARK AT THE ST. GEORGE ART MUSEUM

I have hiked many of the trails in Zion National Park and have done many, many watercolor paintings of Zion Canyon. you can take a look at some of the paintings I completed this past month of the Sentinel, the Altar of Sacrifice, and other images of Zion National Park. I am getting ready for a special one-man-show at the St. George Art Museum in March 2007 which will feature sketchbook drawings and finished original watercolor paintings of Zion National Park and Zion Canyon.

Zion Ponderosa Ranch

A few sketchbook drawings done on location around our "Rockin' R" cabin on the Zions Ponderosa Ranch near Zion National Park. I have done numerous pencil drawings of the big Ponderosa Pine Trees that we love so much.
Click here to see more sketchbook drawings of Zion National Park

Some R and R at the Rockin' R

This morning we're heading up to Zion's Ponderosa Ranch to spend the weekend at our Rockin' R Zion cabin. Located on the east side of Zion National Park just on the park boundary, our Zion cabin has been our haven of peace for over 30 years. We are situated on a ridge above Lemon Springs in a stand of ancient Ponderosa Pines. It is a beautiful place to relax, and I plan on spending time sitting in my sky chair, picking my Taylor guitar, and doing a little drawing in my sketchbook. I'll let you know how it turns out -- oh, and I'm not taking the computer either.

Utah Watercolor Society Award of Merit

I was fortunate to have two watercolor paintings juried into the Utah Watercolor Society Annual Juried show. The two transparent watercolor paintings were both of the southern Utah landscape. One painting of Ivins Reservoir near Kayenta Utah received an Award of Merit at the show which was held at the Iron Horse Gallery in Park City Utah. The second was a painting of Gunlock Reservoir overflow during the recent flooding in southern Utah.
Click to see watercolor paintings