high desert painters: January 2011

Monday, January 24, 2011

Painting in the Rio Grande Gorge

In May 2010 the High Desert Painters met in Taos, New Mexico to paint on location for a week. Above, back left-to-right, Janis Loverin, Jana Van Wyk, Judy Howells, Nita Howell. front, Coni Grant

Janis Loverin

Nita Harper

Jana Van Wyk

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." -Henry Ward Beecher. This is my journey of dipping my brush into my own soul and painting what I find. I have a passion for our American West and those landscapes are my primary focus. But, averaging 6-8 weeks of travel a year, I will paint whereever I am. I usually paint on location, i.e. plein air, but also revel in taking a plein air study and my photographs and using them to create a large, more thoughtful, studio work. In addition to bold brushwork and vibrant color, the power of the composition is becoming more important to my work. The work of Vincent Van Gogh, Maynard Dixon, Edgar Payne, Birger Sandzen, and Walt Gonske has been a huge inspiration to me.