Kate Withers - 'Painting Space'

 Remembering my time at Dead Horse State Park .. smoldering red sunset .. last glow over an immense landscape.  This was an experiment to see if I could accomplish a tonal painting .. colors that are similar and close in values .. using restraint. Plus I wanted to use some of my many red and violet oils without doing flowers ..the usual way to use lots of reds. Here is my impression from that famous viewpoint ..  acquire at Gallery 24 - Torrey Utah

Here is one of the paintings I was working on this past winter .. a 24x24 .. from my imagination and recall of the desert mountains found near Death Valley .. big alluvial fans with Persian patterns .. still working out the design and color.  By comparison .. plein air is much easier :) * Edit update:  This painting project no longer exists .. I wasn't able to take it where I wanted it to go .. headed for the burn pile.  You have to be able to let go and not get too attached even if you worked hours and hours on it [like this one].  I haven't given up on the concept tho .. always loved the patterns made by water .. even in the deep desert. And another imaginary piece that I may try to finish someday .. 

8x10            oil on canvas             Sold Here in Capitol Reef country.. huge spectacular clouds are frequent during the summer monsoon season. They dwarf the massive rock formations below.. rising and floating over the land like an alien armada.. and just when you aren't paying attention.. they disappear.. or they might evolve into a fast-moving deluge.  Best to be prepared if you are out and about in this glorious changing landscape.

If you have ever visited Capitol Reef National Park.. you know there are many different reef formations in the region.  This painting was inspired by the moonlike landscape found just outside the east side of the Park.  Clay and old ancient sand dunes with hardly any plants growing.. afternoon light on the Reef. 8x10     oil on canvas View at the Rim Rock Restaurant in Torrey Utah

12x12         oil on canvas         Sold An impression of the late afternoon light... stylized Grand Canyon formations as seen from the Tonto... some of the best views can be found on this vast plateau... halfway down to banks of the mighty Colorado River.  Magical times. ** Update:  This painting no longer exists .. it has evolved into a much bluer version.. see it here .

8x10    oil on canvas panel    SOLD Available Paintings ..  Gallery 24 - Torrey - Utah This is from a series of studies I did of the last light on a particular Canyon formation..one that millions of tourists see from the South Rim.  My focus in these studies was the contrast of complementary colors ... and the drama it affords.  The beautiful weathered shapes catching the warm golden rays of the sun amid pools of cool cobalt blue.  Great fun to paint!

9x12       oil on canvas panel       SOLD Desert plants have always fascinated me ... how do they survive and thrive in the harsh climate of the deserts? ...especially in the furnace-like conditions down on the valley floor of Death Valley.   This oil study is of one such hardy old survivor... which seemed to glory in it's environment.

5x7  oil on canvas panel   SOLD An oil study from a different perspective.. a bird's eye view above the northern canyons and the turquoise waters of Lake Powell in Utah... truly a painter's paradise.

6x6    oil on canvas     SOLD A quick study from the Lee's Ferry area...here the Colorado River flows swiftly down from Lake Powell.  This is the only spot to launch a boat and enter the Grand Canyon.. a thrilling adventure.   There is a great campground nearby.. but you wouldn't want to be there in the summer.. 100˚plus.  Fisherman prize this stretch of the river.. and if you stay in one of the quaint lodges nearby.. you will be sharing the space with fishermen, avid hikers, intrepid travelers, photographers.. and painters! Go there.

  9x12     oil on canvas panel    SOLD Sunset plein-air from just outside the boundary to Bryce National Park in Utah.. a wonderland of colors and shapes. Powell Point is the tallest landform in this area.. over 10,000' and home to a magnificent Bristlecone pine forest.

 18x18        oil on gallery canvas        SOLD Almost sunset... a late jaunt to the windswept dunes beneath Valhalla Canyon.. an imaginary expedition from the comfort of my studio.

Off for an extended plein-air painting camping expedition for a month.. so this studio piece will have to wait until I return. Here is how it stands as of this morning.  Really been hot here in the desert and in the studio.. looking forward to the high elevations of Utah!

Started a new painting from one of my photos taken in early fall... the Paria River Canyon area.. 24x24 oil .. one of my favorite areas.. a relatively unknown vast high desert region of the Grand Staircase NM.. just on the border between Arizona and Utah. A painter could spend a lifetime in that wonderland. Here are two versions of the structure.. the initial layin.. a de-saturated version and the drawing I did on the canvas with my brush... prussian blue over a dried flesh-colored acrylic wash.. just to seal the canvas and cut the white glare. I find this the only good use for any 'flesh' named paint.. the earth as corporeal. Onwards!

Still working on this piece...getting there. I am posting all these versions of a painting so you and my students can see how a painting might evolve. Complex works of art demand lots of problem-solving.. and answers that serve both the original conception and the painting's evolution towards a conclusion that presents itself as felt. This conclusion is usually not the artist's choice alone...the painting speaks and has it's own life.. it seeks full symbolic manifestation. The artist acts as a medium and a partner in this process.

I think there must be 20 pounds of paint on this by now... have been experimenting with colors and shape changes.. much easier to do in Photoshop than with wet paint layers. Now to refining from this stage and figuring out how I want to do the water. Water needs to be clean and not fuzzy.. so there is work to be done.

This is the kind of painting that one could re-paint many times. Since the basic composition is interesting.. I decided to experiment further.. more shape changes and increased the chroma ... a strong red orange light is being reflected from an unknown source on the left.. plus there is still the last rays of sunset on the top rocks. I will continue to refine this idea until it all comes together.  However.. since I have been working on this exclusively for so long now.. I am looking forward to the next project.. so this will be wrapped up soon. More color/ value adjustments on the rocks and then the final glistening effects on the water.

I decided on changing the shapes of the foreground rocks and tweaking the other forms somewhat. Also you can see the first layer of color on the water. I want to make it look like still dark water with a glossy foreground bow wake.. coming into 'sanctuary' for the night.

Since the rocks are nearly finished [except for fine touches]...  will be painting the water next. If all goes well it should not take long. I put a thin glaze on the water surface already... and when that dries.. I will add more warm glazes and a few floaters on the glassy surface. The time of day and mood indicates a calm surface and a deep dark color with glowing reflections... now I just have to do it :)

Here is where this painting stands today.. I decided to emphasize the reflected light coming into the cove from the left.. lightens the formations considerably.. but since there is a lot of light in the sky yet I think this will work. I added a few bushes on the slopes.. and adjusted values again [and again]. Rocks are about 90% done.. soon on to the water challenge!

Today's effort focused on painting the sky and cooling the formations as they turned from the reflected light. More work to do!