Halloween Night Visitor

On Halloween night we had a scary experience. I left our front door open to watch for Halloween spooks, and we soon found a really scary visitor in our living room--a 3-foot long King Snake! Yikes! At first we thought it was a Halloween prank, but we soon realized it was real when it started to slither across the carpet with its tongue darting in and out. Well, we ushered him out the door, and I transferred him out to the desert behind our house where I thought he (and we) would be much happier. Desert creatures are commonplace around our home but this is our first snake encounter. I guess I won't leave the front door wide open for tricker-treaters again!

Painting of Southern Utah Cliffs

The weather has been so beautiful here the last few days, I have been dying to get out in the desert. So today I did the next best thing. I painted our wonderful southern Utah cliffs. This view is near the mouth of Snow Canyon. I love the way the sun lights up the cliffs and casts long purple shadows across the desert.

Click here for information on purchasing this Roland Lee painting of Southern Utah cliffs

Demonstration Painting of Desert Dance

This is the painting I started on Tuesday as a demonstration for the elementary school kids at the art museum. I really only got the sky and the sand laid in during the time I had with them, and pretty much painted the rest from my imagination. Of course I spend so much time in the red sands around St. George that a painting like this comes naturally to me. I especially like the soft colors in the sky which was created by letting the pigments mingle through a single wet in wet wash. The whole sky took about 5 minutes.

Museum Talk to High School Leadership Students

I was invited to speak to three groups of high school students at the St. George Art Museum today. The students were part of a special Leadership Program sponsored by Pine View High School. Earlier in the day they had participated in a downtown historical tour of St. George to learn about the pioneers who had come before them. They ended the tour at the St. George Art Museum which was built from an old Sugar Beet Warehouse adjacent to the newly restored Pioneer Opera House. I explained to them that we owed a great debt to those who had gone before us, and we can learn from the past as we prepare to be leaders in the future. I showed them a painting of the old St. George Pioneer Opera House that I had done, showing how the scene may have looked in the late 1800's. I also showed my travel sketchbooks, explaining how important it is to record our own thoughts and feelings about our experiences. They were fascinated by the sketchbooks. As they left I gave each student a box of Art Cards featuring my paintings. It was a good group of intelligent and well-behaved students.

Traveling Exhibit of Paint the Parks Top 100

I was fortunate to have a painting selected earlier this year for Paint America's Paint the Parks Top 100 and another selected for the the Mini Top 50. The Show will travel during 2008. Here is the schedule of venues where the paintings can be viewed:

8-1-07 to 9-15-07
Westboro Fine Arts
3125 SW Huntoon
Topeka, KS USA 66604

4-9-08 to 5-15-08
Kolb Studio, Grand Canyon, AZ
Grand Canyon Association
P.O. Box 399
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
(928) 638-2481
(800) 858-2808 [toll-free in U.S.]

6-6-08 to 8-09-08
St. George Art Museum
47 East 200 North
St. George, UT 84770
Deborah Reeder, Art Museum Manager
Telephone 435-634-5942

Watercolor Painting Demonstration at St. George Art Museum

One of the things I really like about the St. George Art Museum is their willingness to reach out to the community. I often accept the invitation to speak, or present watercolor painting demonstrations to school and community groups there. This morning I made presentations to two fourth grade groups of 10- and 11-year-olds. I'm always amazed at the thinking ability and interest levels of today's kids. This great group was no exception. Even though it took me out of my painting studio for half a day, I feel I'm helping make a little contribution to the future generations of artists.

Painting of Bavarian Street Scene

This is the final painting in the series I've been working on the past month from my European travels in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It's been fun to dip into my sketchbook drawings and photos to renew my memories of that grand trip. This painting features a street scene in Fusson, Germany, the location of King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle.

Painting of Fusson Germany purchase information

Stone Barn Painting of Europe

The inspiration for this painting was a photo I shot while hiking in the European countryside. What caught my attention was the way the light streaked in from the left and warmed up the grassy field and cast a red glow on the shingles of this stone barn. I added the stone wall for interest.

Painting of Stone Barn purchase information

Best of Show Award Visual Arts Association

I was pleased to receive the Best of Show Award at the 2007 Fall exhibit of the Visual Arts Association. My entry, "Thawing Out" is a transparent watercolor painting of a snow scene near Annabella Utah. The same painting also received an award previously this year at the Shenandoah Invitational at Southern Virginia University.

Best of Show Southern Utah Watercolor Society

Last night I was honored to receive the Best of Show award at the annual Fall juried exhibit of the Southern Utah Watercolor Society. The society, which consists of about 80 active members, is one of the more vital watercolor groups I've been involved with, hosting many workshops and exhibits annually. I was surprised and honored when the award was announced by Southern Utah Watercolor Society President Dick Rose for my painting "Stone Buttress", a transparent watercolor painting of Zion National Park, Kolob Fingers section. The watercolor exhibit will continue through December 22, 2007 at the St. George Art Museum 47 East 200 North, St. George, Utah 84770. Telephone 435-627-4525.