Plein Air Painting Postponed

Today, I was supposed to meet local artist Dawn Sutherland to paint at one of the area's many spectacular locations. Dawn is a founding member of the Arizona Plein Air Painters Association. I had met her at the Sedona Art Center and she invited me to go along with her on some painting excursions. She has a gallery in the old high school in Jerome and recently won top awards at the Sedona Art Center and at APAP shows and plein air painting competitions. This is the second time we were supposed to meet, but the weather has been a problem. Today it was overcast and cool, so we bagged it. (The rocks are much better with sunlight and shadows. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) The artists I've met have been very friendly and welcoming. I was looking forward to painting with Dawn. Oh well, next year.

So, I decided to finish off a painting of one of our friends that we met a few weeks ago on one of our Jeep trips through a local ranch. I also finally broke out the pastels that I bought before coming to Sedona and took a crack at one of the iconic rock formations of the area, Cathedral Rock. Just to prove that I am actually doing something besides abusing my Jeep, here are my latest works.


The pastel is mounted in an Ikea frame (thanks for the idea, Kim) and is about 4 3/4 inches square. Pretty small. I'll try to tackle another one today while I feel inspired. As for my friend, I'll let that one percolate a bit to see if it needs anything before I claim victory.