New paintings on display at the St. George Art Festival

Over the past couple of weeks I was able to finish several new paintings which we displayed for the first time at this show. Above, "Red Desert Vista" was purchased the first morning by Mary and Allan Jeurs.

This little 5" x 8" painting features the red cliffs of Ivins where we live.

"Zion Canyon Shadows" a watercolor painting of Zion National Park.





Celebrating My Birthday with the grandkids

Even though I don't like to be reminded of my old age, I always like to see the light in my grandkid's faces when it's time to open presents. Emma and Ellie were eager to show me the proper technique for opening my gifts.

Awards at the 2008 St. George Art Festival

My son Jon helped me set up our display at the St. George Art Festival on Thursday night. I've been exhibiting in this show for over 20 years, and it is definitely one of the most artist-friendly shows anywhere. They provide hot breakfast for the artists and bring water and snacks to each booth several times a day. Over 100 artists come from all over the U.S. to participate and many artists are turned away each year. This year the weather was the best ever, with warm temperatures and no winds, so the crowds turned out in droves.

AWARD WINNING PAINTINGS

I received a 2nd place award in the landscape competition and also received a purchase award from the City of St. George.

Left: St. George city Purchase award winner of Zioin canyon. This painting will be placed in the permanent collection of the St. George Art Museum

Left: "Peaceful Canyon" won a second place award in watercolor at the St. George Art Festival

The Gang's all here!

Easter Weekend always brings a flood of kids and grandkids to our house in southern Utah. They enjoy hanging out at the St. George Art Festival and soaking up the beautiful desert sunshine. The weather cooperated nicely and we got in a lot of outdoor time.



Before the Festival started I took my son Jon and his kids on a hike in the desert behind our home. They found lots to do.

Max struck his own desert trail. Even at age 3 he's a big BYU fan like his dad and brother.

Travis Alyssa and Hannah play in the "secret rock caves."

Jennie, Jason, Emma, Ellie and Baby Josh at the art festival. Two-year old Ellie gave us a scare when she decided to go exploring by herself. Everyone pitched in looking and she turned up by the fountain in the town square.

My daughter Jodi Simmons with her husband Kyle and kids Zach (left) and Kade.

New LDS Temple Giclee Print Introduced at St. George Art Festival

We're gearing up for the St. George Art Festival which is held each Easter weekend on the streets of St. George Utah. Over 100 artists set up tents and zillions of winter-weary northerners swarm to St. George for a weekend of sunshine, navajo tacos, and art. We're looking forward to visits from our kids and grandkids starting tomorrow.It's like a huge family reunion at our booth on Main Street during the festival.



I will be introducing a new painting of the St. George LDS Temple at the Festival. It will be available as a limited edition giclee print.

Kate Starling talk at the Art Museum

We enjoyed hearing Kate Starling talk about her art at the St. George Art Museum tonight. My artist buddy Myron Laub and I joined other artists and collectors to hear her tell about her life as an artist and see a slide show of her paintings. She has become nationally known as a Plein Air painter of the landscape. With a degree in geology and a passion for hiking and climbing, she is well-suited for painting the red rocks in our area -- especially Zion National Park. One of her paintings was juried into the upcoming Zion Centennial Art Show. It was fun to visit with her and listen to her light and lively comments about her work.

Zion National Park painting by Kate Starling

Asleep at the wheel

I've been reminded by more than a few readers that I have been lax in updating the blog lately. I admit it, I have been busy and just haven't found the time to post. I've done about six or seven new paintings including finishing some of the last workshop demos. I will post them over the next couple of days. The painting above is a little 5" x 8" study of the light and shadows on Zion's cliffs.

"Fresh Snow" Watercolor Demo Painting

This little painting was started in my last St. George workshop and finished later in the studio. I decided it needed a judicious cropping to make it more powerful. After throwing a mat on it, I brought it back to my March class where Karen Bettilyon decided she wanted to buy it on the spot. Karen already owns a couple of my other original paintings and I am pleased she selected it for her collection.

March Painting Workshop at A Passion for Painting

Artists include l to r: Lola Krummenacher, Paige Jeffs, Bev Hagadorn,Roland Lee, Erica Shea, Karen Bettilyon, Kay Besteman, Carrie Ruppe, and Gail Alger.

My March workshop focused on rocks and desert scenes with an emphasis on backpainting or negative painting in watercolor. I was pleased with the work this group produced. We took advantage of the warm spring weather in St. George and went on a sketching trip to the red hill.

Mike Malm Show at Trailside Gallery and gallery hopping in Scottsdale

We stayed over an extra day in order to do a little gallery hopping in Scottsdale and enjoy the warm 80 degree Arizona sunshine. We did plenty of both! After picking up our rental car we drove from Tempe to the Scottsdale Art District, an area teeming with galleries and shops. We started with the Trailside Gallery, one of my favorites hoping to see some of Mike Malm's work. We were rewarded with a real treat as they had about ten big pieces on display. When I told the the gallery rep I had one of Mike's originals hanging in my living room, she really perked up sensing a sale in the making. His paintings were incredible and I truly wished I could buy a couple today. What a master!

This painting "Dappled" by Michael Malm was Nellie's favorite.

We then moved on to Leslie Levy, Legacy Gallery, Overland Trails, and others, stopping to chat with Jessica Hunter in the Rive Gauche gallery. A few quick questions told me she knew her stuff and I enjoyed visiting with her. They display works by a number of Utah artists including sculptor L'Deane Trueblood who is a good friend of mine (of course I own a wonderful bronze by her as well.) Nellie and I also enjoyed the work of Jerry Cox especially "Hammock Lovers" which hangs suspended from the ceiling. The figurative paintings of Bryce Cameron Liston were knockouts and we enjoyed the peaceful paintings of Doug Aagard and the big bold color-filled paintings of Jeff Ham.

It's always fun to charge the artistic batteries by visiting galleries, but I often wish I were a rich art collector with an unlimited budget rather than a starving artist with a credit card.

Private Art Show in Phoenix Arizona

From Denver we caught a plane to Phoenix Arizona for a private Five-person art show sponsored by the Mission Gallery. Artists included Marty Ricks, Kieth Bond, Julie Rogers, Ron Rencher and I. We enjoyed meeting many new art collectors there, who purchased a number of paintings. I was honored to have my painting "Bavarian Steet Scene" chosen for the collection of Dr. Harvey and Wendy Taylor. It was a pleasure getting to know them as well as the other collectors who attended. Special thanks to Jane Juber and Michelle Root from the Mission Gallery who organized the show and to George and Kay Ferrin who hosted the event at their lovely home in Ahwatukee.

Denver Conference on Public Lands and a trip to the Denver Art Museum

From Houston we flew up to Denver Colorado for the Association for Partners in Public Lands Conference. As a board member of the Zion National Park Foundation and the Zion Natural History Association I joined with others who represent national parks from all over the United States. While preservation of public lands is always at the forefront of interest, we are especially concerned about ways to introduce a computer generation to the outdoors and share our love of the wilderness with them. We addressed some very interesting issues associated with that need.

Of course we were able to spend time in the wonderful Denver Art Museum and see the "Inspiring Impressionism" exhibit as well as the Western Art Collection. We had hoped to hook up with Peter Hassrick at the museum, who is judging the upcoming Zion Centennial Art Competition that we have been working on the past year, but his schedule and ours didn't match up.



I was excited to see this massive painting of Yellowstone Falls by one of my favorite landscape painters Wilson Hurley. He was an inspiration to me early in my career but I have not been able to see many of his paintings up close.

San Antonio Texas Watercolor Workshop

I've spent a great four days presenting a watercolor workshop in San Antonio Texas. Thanks to Barbara Brunner who organized the workshop sponsored by the San Antonio Watercolor Group. I met a wonderful group of accomplished artists who I now consider friends. And what a classy group! We couldn't have been treated nicer.

Nellie and I were met at the airport by Barbara with a vase of flowers, and we were treated like royalty the whole time. They put us up in a top floor suite at the Crowne Plaza hotel which turned out to be the nicest and friendliest hotel we've ever stayed at. The staff went out of their way to accomodate all our needs and the facility was superb.The weather has been in the high 70's the whole time so we've been loving it.



Our good friends Greg and Kathy Cherry invited us to their home for a delicious salmon dinner one evening and took us to the Alamo and the Riverwalk another night. We were fortunate that the Alamo was open Friday evening for special re-enactments of the Alamo history. It was fun to visit with Greg and Kathy especially since we share cute grandkids together. Now we are flying over to Houston to spend a day with Jana, Phil, Matty and Katie. Then off to Denver for the APPL conference. We expect a big climate change between here and there since snow is predicted tomorrow up there.

Sears Invitational Art Show Award

The Sears Invitational Art Show kicked off yesterday at Dixie State College. I entered two pieces, one of which won an award. My painting "Lake Powell Morning" was awarded third place in watercolor. I also exhibited "Stone Buttress" which previously won Best of Show at the St. George Art Museum recently.

Workshop demonstration paintings

This is one of the snow paintings I began in my February workshop and finished up in the studio. We were working on how to paint water reflections.



We all used the same photo reference and worked on this painting together. First we planned the design with a thumbnail sketch deciding where we wanted the emphasis to be. then we went to work. I was pleased with the student's results and felt many of them were more exciting than mine was.

February 2-Day Watercolor Painting Workshop

Today we started another 2-day workshop at A Passion for Painting Art Gallery. It's great to rub shoulders with such a quality group of artists. Pretty much any of them could have been teaching this workshop instead of me--in fact Lola and Shari currently are teaching painting classes. Artists include:Sue Sheets, Carrie Ruppe, Jon Elliot, Boots Nelson, Karen Bettilyon, Shari Cannon, Lola Krummenacher, and Gail Alger.

Las Vegas Private Art Show

Last night we had a wonderful 6-person private art show in Las Vegas at the lovely home of Doug and Lori Gerrard. The show was sponsored by the Mission Gallery and featured works of J. Kirk Richards, Marty Ricks, Frederick Stephens, David Koch, Annette Everett and Roland Lee. Special thanks to the many collectors who turned out and to new collectors Nick and Christina Leventis who purchased my painting "Autumn Farm."

Famous Artists and Art Collectors

This evening a group of young artists and future art collectors dropped by my art studio for a tour. After showing them around the studio we talked about the role of artists and how we interpret the world around us. They had some great questions and I have no doubt some will be professional artists one day. I gave each young man a print and a box of cards to take home with them. The boys were from the Red Cliffs First Ward Boy Scouts.

Roland Lee photo of Red Mountain Snow on KSL TV

We had a rare blast of weather today. It rarely snows in St. George, but at about 2:50 this afternoon, a front rolled in with gale-force winds and sleet which covered the red hills with a white blanket in just minutes. It continued all afternoon, and made a great view when the clouds finally broke. On the way home from the studio I stopped and shot a photo of the snow on the big Red Mountain and e-mailed it to KSL Television in Salt Lake City. They aired the photo on the weather during tonight's 10pm newscast.

Carl Purcell Visits my Studio

Carl Purcell stopped by my studio following his watercolor workshop. We were joined by Mr. and Mrs. Williams from Farmington, who also stopped by the gallery to check out my new paintings. They had previously purchased one of Carl's paintings but never had the chance to meet him. So we all enjoyed a nice visit.

Carl Purcell Painting Workshop

Artist Carl Purcell demonstrates for the Southern Utah Watercolor Society

The Southern Utah Watercolor Society sponsored a watercolor painting workshop with Carl Purcell this past week. What an outstanding teacher and artist! I own two of Carl's original paintings and was able to trade him for a third painting while he was here. One of the originals that I own appears in his new book by Northlight press, "Painting with Your Artist's Brain." The same painting also appeared in an article by Carl in the September issue of "Artists Magazine." I also picked up a couple of nice original drawings that appear in in his Northlight book, "Drawing with your Artist's Brain."


"Northern Exposure" painted by Carl Purcell and owned by Roland Lee, appears in the new book as one of the demonstration pieces.


Roland Lee (left) and Carl Purcell in Roland's studio.

Carl Purcell actually taught the first watercolor workshop I ever attended back in 1978 and was very influential in launching my watercolor painting career. It was fun to have him come down to southern Utah and Teach our watercolor group. Thanks to Dick Rose the SUWS president for all his hard work to line up these great workshops.

More Travel Sketch Book Drawings

I had a few minutes to scan some of the drawings from my Travel Sketchbook. These were done last week on our cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. I carried a Watson-Guptill hardbound 5" x 8" sketchbook which is my favorite for travelling. I used a 4B pencil for most of the drawings which were all completed on location. I spent about 10 minutes on each one.



The Holly House on Catalina Island



Seaside Village in San Diego



Boats in the San Diego Harbor

Newest Roland Lee Painting Purchased

Today Mr. and Mrs. John Mangels became the owners of my newest painting "Fence Line Fury." Living near the mouth of Snow Canyon, they enjoy outstanding views of the red cliffs. John attended my recent watercolor workshop and watched as I demonstrated this painting in class. They also purchased "Big Red Mountain" which portrayed a view seen from their home.

Cruise to Mexico Sketchbook Drawings

Last night we returned from a week-long cruise to Ensenada Mexico, with stops at Catalina Island and San Diego, California. The weather was magnifient with temperatures in the low 70's and the sea air was good for my soul and my body. Of course I packed along my sketchbook and did lots of drawings which will inspire some future paintings. If I get time I'll post a few more sketch book drawings next week.

Top image: Sketchbook drawing of a roofline in Ensenada Mexico. Left image: Sketchbook drawing of buildings on the wharf at Catalina Island.

Watercolor Workshop Demonstration Paintings

The painting above was done during our watercolor class to demonstrate a highly effective watercolor technique for painting skies in five minutes or less. Using a wet-into-wet technique, I allowed the paint to mingle freely on the wet paper, leaving areas of light for contrast and drama. I had the students paint three different skies this way.



I began this painting as a watercolor art lesson during the painting workshop showing how to use the technique of negative painting or backpainting to depict desert shrubs and sage. Even though the foreground is in shadow, you can still clearly see the effects of the sky light coming from the left side of the painting. The highlight side of each shrub is identified by the value conrast with the shadow side of the shrub behind it. The example we used had a desert style home in it, but I changed it into a distant cliff to add more interest.

Click on the inset photo to see how I laid in broad loose washes first, then defined the edges with a pencil after the initial washes had dried. This is a technique I often use to help me find where the contrast of values will be. The pencil lines will be obliterated by the paint since they appear only where an edge will be.



This was an art class demonstration of How to paint skies in watercolor. The sky only took five minutes. But the rest of the painting took another day! This painting is entirely made up without any reference material.

Another Good Watercolor Workshop

Above: Bernice Payne, Paula Wadsworth, and Luzon Glines at work in the workshop. Below: John Mangels

Monday and Tuesday I conducted a watercolor workshop at Passion for Painting Gallery with a great group of artists. It's always fun to spend two full days with my peers and feel the energy that comes when a group of like-minded artists get together. But what I really enjoy is seeing the variety of styles and techniques that is generated in class. What an art show! Students included: Karen Bettilyon, Luzon glines, John Mangels, Bernice Payne, Paula Wadsworth, Lexie Boyce, and Barbara Withelder.

1981 Watercolor Painting

Today I was visited by Donna and Dale Burrill who recently inherited one of my older watercolor paintings from Donna's deceased mother. The painting, "Desert Rainbow", was purchased by her mother at the George Phippen Memorial Art Show held each memorial day weekend in Prescott Arizona. I painted it in April 1981, and she purchased it in May 1981. the painting is #107, and I am currently on painting #1041, so it was truly one of the earlier paintings. The painting looks great with no fading, and even the original mats are in good shape. The Burrills report that the painting fits perfectly with their Southwest decor and they are delighted with it.