My Newest Collector

My newest collector, Carrie Ruppe from Vernal Utah battled a winter storm to come down to St. George and purchase a painting, "George Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge." She is also a very good artist and has had her eye on this piece for a couple of weeks. She had purchased another painting on my web site, but it had previously sold but was not marked as sold on the web site. Naturally she was very disappointed, and I was red in the face over the mistake. However, she found another that she is equally happy with and is pleased to have a painting that was juried into the 2006 Arts for the Parks Top 100.

Library Murals Unveiled Today

After a two-week delay, the murals I painted for the Washington County Library were finally hung and opened for public view today. I am pleased with them and hope the community enjoys them as well. A dedication will take place on February 19 at 10:00am at the Library.

Roland Lee January Watercolor Workshop

I've just enjoyed two days conducting a watercolor workshop for some very talented artists. Since this was an upper level class for experienced artists I had a chance to share some of the "really good stuff." All the students proved equal to the task and we had some great paintings at the critique today.

Here is a photo of the happy crew filled with watercolor knowledge and ready to go! Thanks to gallery owner, Becky Whitney for taking the photo. 1st row: Shari Cannon, Karen Bettilyon. 2nd row: Carrie Ruppe, Joy Mitchell, Gian Ferrari, Roma Knudsen, Luzon Glines. Back row: Roland Lee, Glen Bessonette.



We will be holding two more workshops at Passion for Painting in St. George, Utah this spring. Click here for more information on other workshops.

Mesquite Artists group Presentation
On January 5 I presented a Powerpoint demonstration " From Sketches to Paintings" to the Virgin Valley Artists Organization. A good group of active artists was present at the event organzed by Diana Coondradt. Their meeting facility is wonderful and includes a large permanent gallery space. It's one of the nicest community artist spaces I've seen.

National Finals Rodeo

I'm not a cowboy by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to watch rodeo -- especially the PRCA National Finals. We travelled to Las Vegas Nevada to see a couple of nights of the ten-night NFR Rodeo with two of my cowboy mentors, Lyman and Kelton Hafen. It's been a tradition for us since the rodeo moved from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas in 1985. Lyman and his dad got me started riding horses in the 80's. I got my first quarter horse, Ben, from them and I was fortunate to help with the spring and fall cattle drives on their Nevada Ranch at Clover Valley. That's where I first met a young kid named Cody Wright, who has competed in the finals the past four years and won first place in saddlebronc last night. Here's a picture of the four of us at the NFR.



Left to right: Kelton Hafen, Cody Wright, Roland Lee, Lyman Hafen

I also enjoy spending some time at "Cowboy Christmas" a huge trade show at the LV convention center. It's a great place to see lots of wonderful western art and sculpture.

Best of Show Cash Award

Nellie and I travelled to Mesquite Nevada for an awards reception for the "Lucky 13" International Small Works Competition. I was notified that I had received "Best of Show" with a cash award, which is always nice. It is a very unique art show in that all paintings must be smaller than 13 inches in any one direction including the frame. My painting, "Fisherman" is a tiny 5 in. by 5 in. transparent watercolor of a fly fisherman. It is not only one of the smallest paintings I've ever done, but certainly the smallest I've ever had accepted into a juried competition.


Roland Lee receives Best of Show award at Lucky 13 International Small Works Competition

Finished Mural for the Children's Library

“Reading – A Window to the Past, and a Doorway to the Future”
Oil Painting by By Roland Lee

Southern Utah is a unique and wonderful place. The power of nature has sculpted the land into a complex labyrinth of towers and canyons, where prehistoric creatures and ancient peoples have carved their own marks as they struggled to survive in a harsh, but beautiful environment.
1. The towering walls and deep canyons of Zion National Park are evidence of the geologic upheavals that shaped our land. Today millions of people from all over the world travel to Utah to see Zion’s wonders.
2. Even before man stepped foot on this land, prehistoric creatures left their large footprints. The Allosaurus, a fierce carnivore, was so prevalent in Utah that it is now the official fossil of the State of Utah. Hundreds of tracks of other dinosaurs have been discovered and preserved near St. George.
3. Although other white explorers had visited southern Utah, the Mormon pioneers were the first to colonize the area. Travelling by covered wagon, they brought little with them as they struggled to farm the desert and tame the Rio Virgin.
4. Ancient peoples inhabited this land long before the white man came. The Anasazi left symbols of their life on rock walls, pottery shards, and dwellings. But the southern Paiutes, who came in 1200 AD and live here still, provide our strongest cultural link to human history in this land.
5. As a child I was fascinated by space flight and watched in awe when man stepped on the moon’s surface in 1969. Today, people of many nations work together in space stations and travel freely back and forth into space on vehicles such as the Discovery Space Shuttle. Who knows what changes technology will bring to the lives of tomorrow’s children?

Mural for the Children's Library

This past week I've been working on the second large painting for the new Washington County Library. this one will go in the Children's Library area. I wanted to depict the history of the area, showing a couple of young people opening a book to learn about the past as they look to the future.

In the first sketch I planned for an 8 foot painting and included a dinosaur, the Native Peoples, the Pioneers, and Space Shuttle.



When I visited the spot in the library where the painting is going to be placed I decided to reduce the width of the painting to 6 feet. I zeroed in on a few specifics and added red cliffs in the background to show the unique geology of the area. Now I've got the design worked out and feel pretty comfortable with it.



I started by mounting Claessons Belgian Linen to hardboard then sketched up the drawing using a prismacolor pencil. With my drawing and reference photos taped to the canvas, I started working on the children's faces before moving on to some of the other elements.



The history of southern Utah is filled with fantastic subjects. On the left are two southern Paiutes, representing the indigenous peoples who lived here first. Behind them is a covered wagon used by early Mormon Pioneer settlers. The red sandstone cliffs of Zion Canyon rise up in the background to show the incredible and unique geology found here. The Allosaurus was one of the fiercest meat-eating dinosaurs who once tromped through Utah, and is now the State Fossil of Utah. Finally a space shuttle launch brings us into the present and future through space exploration.

Zion Canyon Fall Colors

We usually spend a few weeks in Vermont during Autumn, painting the fall colors. But this year we stayed in Utah where the Autumn leaves are pretty spectacular too. Here's a few photos I took over the last couple of weeks in Zion National Park, as I begin working toward my March one man show "Roland Lee's Canyon Country" at the St. George Art Museum.

Roland Lee November Watercolor Workshop

I enjoyed a couple of days with some terrific artists in November as I conducted a special two-day watercolor Workshop at A Passion for Painting in St. George, Utah. I was impressed with the skill level of these artists as I coached them in "Learning to See the Landscape." A key element in learning to paint the landscape is being able to discern how light affects what we see. Through demos and Powerpoint examples I was able to show them how it works. We are planning another workshop some time in January.

The Library Mural Painting is Finished

At last I finished the library mural painting. Upon completion I got the approval of Douglas Alder from the library committee, then we brought in construction manager, Bob Coulter to discuss placement and framing of the painting. We decided that they would construct an architectural frame of the same walnut stained red oak that was being used on the woodwork in the library. I let the painting dry for a couple of weeks then applied a varnish coat for protection.