Kate Withers - 'Painting Space'

This piece was inspired by my explorations of the Awapa Plateau .. a vast high-elevation region just outside Capitol Reef in Utah.  Large swaths of open rolling meadows are dotted with thick stands of trees clustered together as protection from the formidable winds. Nice and cool up here on hot summer days .. great camping .. one of my favorite places in this great state. 18x18     oil on canvas

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.

Finished!.. [well except for a couple more strokes of paint]. On to the next project.. I'm thinking skies. The early spring skies have been amazing here in southern Nevada.. and I feel I want to do something more abstract and not as detailed. I need a break!

About 7/8 done.. getting closer. These large paintings are fun but can take a long time to complete.. probably a couple more days [weeks] in the studio. You can compare this version to the earlier underpainting post and see how it has evolved. Colors used are a fairly limited palette... naples yellow, cad orange, two earths [light red and terra rosa], two blues [prussian and ultramarine].. and a violet. 24x24 oil on gallery-wrapped canvas. Onwards.

Slow going on this piece... getting the values and lighting right is a challenge. There is something about this that I am not happy with.. haven't been able to put my finger on it yet.. but I will. The halfway mark is usually the most difficult part of the painting. Each piece 'wants' to come to fruition and needs me to concentrate and be open.. it's a synergistic process. The next post will be the finished piece [maybe].. and I expect it will be quite different than this image [like what happened to the "Queen of Spades Range']. So back to the easel!

Inspired by the magnificent old growth trees on the shores of Lake Yellowstone. this group is next to the ice cream shop.. a great place to paint! 12x16    oil painting on panel

8x10       oil on canvas panel       $225 Purchase Info This is the second painting in a series of oils featuring majestic clouds.. clouds silently composing wonderful landscapes in the Space known as the Sky.. the sky we take for granted and rarely contemplate. When clouds are present.. there is a dance of forms appearing and dissolving... constantly changing shape and color.. sometimes bright white... sometime sombre gray... or reflecting the rainbow colors of a sunset. In this painting... the colors are subdued and subtle.. the soft undersides of the low clouds take on the reflected colors from the earth and pavement below.. the lavender shadow of a passing cloud on a rarely-travelled road.. fun racing the sun.

8x10      oil on canvas panel     SOLD Nowhere is Nature's music more dramatic than in the beautiful landscapes formed by clouds... the ever-changing forms in the colored light of sunrise or sunset... a painter's inspiration. I remember spending many mesmerized summer hours as a child laying stretched out on the grass watching the clouds turn into fairytales come to life. This painting is the first in a series of the abstract beauty of skies.. skies as majestic music. Here is the underpainting for this piece .. the design ..

8x10     oil on canvas panel     SOLD The beginning of a new series of highway/road oil paintings gleaned from my extensive travels.. based on one of the hundreds of road photos in my collection. The title of this piece is from a famous book detailing impressions of the less-travelled regions of the U.S.. written by William Least Heat-Moon. And the asphalt really is blue in the mid-day sun. I love the open highways in the Outback regions of the West.. no traffic.. just light and space.. plenty of time to soak-in the countryside.. cruising .. the good life.

5x7     oil on canvas panel     SOLD Approaching storms fill the monsoon season skies over canyon country.. last last light on the rock formations before all is obscured by darkness. Small studies like this are subtle in depicting the light effects ... a close value range and muted color.. except for the saturated oranges of the late sunset... a moody piece.