Tusayan Field

Tusayan Field

Oil on canvas, 6x12

After painting the amazing scenes of the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, it was reassuring and comfortable and fun to paint a small field at the side of the road in Tusayan, Arizona. 

As you all know by now, I am a sucker for the pale yellow grass that grows around here at certain elevations. I captured the pale color of the grass in this painting, but can't quite make that pale nearly white yellow come through on the computer. But it's close. 

This scene was just one of the lovely, quiet, small scenes that I love. The field that someone drives through to get home. The piece of land that no one notices, but which informs and enriches their day and their environment. 

Sometimes I make these paintings large, but there's something in my heart that speaks to the small painting, that you can put on a small wall between two doors, in the sunny corner of a small bedroom, in the space below the cupboards. These are paintings that become part of the environment of your home, in the way that the landscapes are part of the environment of your life. 

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Grand Canyon Morning, 20x20

I did paint the Grand Canyon again, on a crisp and very cold morning. It was again daunting and challenging - and I loved it! My painting in the landscape is below. 

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I saw this twisted tree on the road from the Grand Canyon to the mountains. Its bark is really fascinating. 

Just outside of the Grand Canyon, and in many spots on the road from the canyon to Monument Valley, there are these sort of open air shacks where Native Americans sell stuff. Many of these look as though they've been abandoned for years, but this one, just outside the Grand Canyon, was open and busy.

My friend Heather, visiting California this past week, needs some help! It's January - but there's no snow! How can it be January? Heather and her husband Joe are now back in Maine, where there's plenty of snow.

Randy Clough, a Navajo I met in Monument Valley, really wants a dog. But he says his grandmother told him Navajos can't pay for dogs. So he is waiting for the right dog to show up. I suggested he go to Best Friends in Utah and barter some money for a dog.

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Dog of the Day

Here's Heather's husband Joe, in sunny California with a beautiful Dog of the Day!
The dog's owner thought the dog and Joe resembled each other...

Along the Way - and Red Hills

Red Hills

Oil on canvas, 6x12

I believe I am the luckiest person in the world - and a large part of that good fortune is all of you. 

I was painting this morning in the Grand Canyon (today's paintings will come soon!) and I was telling someone about the trip, and all of you, and she said how fortunate I was to have such a reputation. 

I had to correct her. I am fortunate to have people who believe in me, and who love my paintings. It's not reputation, really. It is your trust in me, and your willingness to take a chance that during the course of this trip, I'll make a painting that you love. 

So thank you - for your support, for your trust in me, for your willingness to believe, and to come along for the journey. 

This newsletter will catch us up a little - introduce you to some of the paintings I've made that I haven't posted yet! 

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"Red Hills" I made on the road from Prescott to the Grand Canyon. In Prescott Valley, I found myself behind a really great truck with a great dog standing up in the back. I was behind the truck for a long, long way, and it finally turned left off the road. When I slowed down to let it turn, I saw the red hills off to the right.

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Here's a painting you haven't seen:"Windy Day in Sonoita," a 10x10. Below, the painting in the landscape. 

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Here's a larger one - "Evening in Patagonia," which is 20x20. 

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Here's a 10x10 from Madera Canyon, called "Ocotillo."

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These Nogales cows will show up in a painting soon.

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The Nogales International Airport. Whee! 

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Dog of the Day

This cute guy visited me during the Tubac show. He was just as happy as he looks!