Painting frenzy

I guess you could say I am in a painting frenzy. A real challenge I have gotten myself into this time! Getting all new paintings going  for a semi-solo show in October. To top it off, they are much larger than I do on a regular basis and after doing the 30 paintings in 30 days that were mostly 5 x 7", these 18 x 24 up to 29 x 50" seem like monsters!

I need to wait for the show to reveal any of them, so I am sharing a recent western smaller painting.

So far on the easels I have, Cathedral Rock, The West Rim, Chapel of the Holy Cross and Yellowstone Falls.


 The title of the show is "EAST MEETS WEST". I will probably add some animals to a few; like the quail that I saw so many times in Cave Creek, AZ; or the buffalo of Jackson Hole ; the moose in Dubois or the antelope in Pinedale.

I have never had more than 1 painting going at a time, so this is a real change for me. It seems to be working, as I can do a little on one and then move on before I overwork anything. I also have almost always painted 'alla prima' and very tight and detailed. Plein air painting has loosened me up and I approach it very differently now. I have been laying in the foundations with using Liquin as a medium; so far, so good. I also have allowed myself to use any tube colors I choose, experimenting with a few I rarely use.

I am planning on making my own simple framing from 1 x 2" poplar or pine and staining it a rich mahogany, I think. My miter saw doesn't cut very accurate angles so I may need to use an old fashioned wood miter box and hand saw. I will test one this week.

I did manage to make my display stands and get them stained. I will post a photo of them later in the week.