"Ruins of the Ancients" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

Hovenweep means in the Paiute and Hopi language "deserted valley."  The 20-square-mile area of Hovenweep National Monument, straddling Utah and Colorado, was once farms and fields cultivated by the Ancestral Puebloans.  There are now only several ruins of high towers, dating from the mid-13th century.  I painted Hovenweep Castle under a sunny sky in peace and quiet last August. 

The hill in the background was darker than the green slope in the middle ground, so I had painted as I saw.  My teacher, Sara Linda Poly, told me to forget what I saw and to paint over it with a pale mauve glaze.  Now it is settled back where it should be.   Paint what you see, but also paint what you know.  An important lesson.

"Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

As a watercolorist, I have always had trouble with texture and edges.  My paintings were design-driven and full of hard edges; I resolved the issue of texture by not painting grass, trees and such.  Since I turned myself into an impressionist landscape painter working in oil, I have loosened up quite a bit, although I continue to battle with trees.  As my teacher, Sara Linda Poly, says, you just cannot do without trees in a landscape.

Recently, however, it dawned on me that the reason why my watercolor paintings were so full of hard edges was often because of the subject matter.  I am drawn to geometric, linear, man-made structures.  The above is a plein-air painting, titled "Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde" (8 x 10"), that I did in August.  I was attracted to the famous ruins like a bear to a beehive.

The ruins and rock formation didn't take much time.  It was the spruce trees that made me sweat; I had to work on them after I returned from the trip.  As I am beginning to understand better what I desire to paint, I now allow myself to include in a landscape painting the man-made, geometric stuff (buildings, sculptures, bridges, etc.)  A happy compromise, I think.  You have to paint what you want to paint.