Courthouse Butte Rock, Sedona, AZ

Nature pulls at your heartstrings when in Sedona, AZ! Your spirit soars as you take in the rhapsody of such beauty. All around, there is another breath-taking sight to behold. Even when the weather turns bad, it is incredible, for the purity of the air provides for dramatic lighting not often seen elsewhere.

For an artist and/or photographer, it is almost overload the first time you visit. I have since been back several times and am just now able to attempt to record that beauty in paint. I was priveledged to return to Sedona with my daughter, Missy, and her family. What a feast for the soul as we watched the sun set from the airport as it cast it's golden fire on Coffepot Rock and Courthouse Butte!

'Courthouse Butte'   (Sedona, AZ)       oil on panel 9 x 12"          $300



This original oil painting can grace your wall if you are the first to press the button!

Keep watching; I will soon post the painting of Cathedral Rock.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day.... -Ruth Ann

# 29 Finley's Valley, Dubois, WY

Oh, how the Aspens did glow last fall in Wyoming! What a sight of bright oranges and golden yellows punctuating the landscape in clusters large and small. Add a river to that scene and a few mountains and not a neighbor for MILES....then you might be at Finley's ranch.

                                                           # 29   Finley's Valley
                                                            11 x 14" oil on canvas    $125

Marking this off my bucket list...........but I just might have to return for a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th look!

Thanks so much for looking.............Ruth Ann

# 23 After the Bloom. ..& giving a lesson

Feeling a little better today, had lots to do and then had the company of my granddaughter, Alyssa. We got into a discussion about art and I invited her to join me in the studio and I gave her a little lesson in color theory and showed her how to mix a variety of browns just using her primaries. Something she had asked an art teacher and didn't get a satisfactory answer. I was happy that I cleared it up for her.

Then I did a quick demo from a photo that I took my first time in AZ. Incredible skies and color saturation out there. The cacti has just finished their blooming, so I missed that, but it was quite an adventure, none the less.

I re purposed a previously painted panel; felt good to cover it up and get another lesson out of it rather than let it be tinder for the fire. Quality time passing on a little art!

 

#23  After the Bloom

oil on panel

 

Thanks for looking..........have a wonderful day!            Ruth Ann

# 15 0f 30 paintings in 30 days 2013

Well, I tried to do something simple and although there is a lot of drawing, it was. I really liked it before I put any color to it, other than a wash of transparent oxide red. It had an old world feel to it and the simplicity was pleasing. You know, like when you look at a black and white photo and just know you wouldn't enjoy it as much in color.

I think I was down in Amish country when I snapped this photo. Seems I found a number of interesting doors that day.....

                

                              #15       Window to the Past 

                                           4 x 6"  oil on panel    $20

Thank you for viewing my art...........comments and suggestions are always welcomed.

Ruth Ann

# 5 of 30 in 30 days

I painted this scene in a large format and since it is one of my very favorite places, Sedona, I wanted to paint it again in a smaller size.

I have to admit, I liked it better about 40 brushstrokes ago, but since none of you were here in my studio to grab the brush from me, here it is...

                        Red Rock Crossing in Autumn         9 x 12" oil on panel        $75

                                              Have a fabulous weekend..........Ruth Ann

1st place in oils @ SKB Art Conference 2012

Things have a way of evening out, sometimes. I ruined a nice plein air painting today due to not having a friend stop me soon enough. So I now have a beautifully toned canvas for tomorrow. I was a little bummed after wiping it out but the beauty of the golden-glowing aspens and being surrounded by fabulous people, it didn't last very long.

I was kind to myself and knew that at least I had showed up to do the work and we can't have successes without some failures; checks and balances, you know.

Tonight was the awards ceremony for the art show and much to my surprise and delight, my painting titled "Revealing my inner self" was awarded 1st place in oils! ( by unanimous decision, one judge said)

What an honor! There are so many talented and wonderful artists here that I feel humbled just to be with them for an entire week.

So my motto, "Never give up", proves to be valid once again. Just when we are down on our abilities, validation can come in many forms. So for all my creative friends who are struggling right now with
this same issue, may this spur you on.

Many other wonderful things are in store the rest of the week; art marketing, Photoshop class, more plein air and hopefully some time with artists, Mark Mahaffey and Greg Beechum.

Guy Coombs and Andrew Denman are doing some fabulous pieces and is inspirational to watch.

Stay tuned for news of some other great artists doing instruction and demos here. Thursday, many of them will be doing a quick draw.

Painting #27 ..... The Day is Done

It was a tough time choosing what to paint. Having too many ideas can be a bad thing. Everything I chose for my composition was complicated and would make a great large painting; but not one I could do justice on a small one.

I finally chose my favorite hair clips that I caught out of the corner of my eye, sitting  on my taboret. They needed a little something more and I immediately tucked in the sweet, worn moccassins that we got at the auction last week. I adore the painting for today. Made me in such a good mood...love it when a plan comes together!

The Day is Done   4 x 4"   oil on linen   

And so it is....................until tomorrow!   Thanks for looking.     Ruth Ann

Painting #22...... Taking Time to Smell the Roses

As I promised earlier this week, I was going to paint some of my favorite gifts.

This is my most treasured gift from a fellow artist! Gary Hovey presented me with this rose, at a show that our art group put on, as I had asked him to be our featured artist, with his stunning and amazing silverware sculptures.

May you be blessed as well and often as you bless others, Gary!

Taking Time to Smell the Roses       5 x 7"  NFS

The hummingbird was a joint venture that Gary and I did, as he tried, so graciously, to teach me to weld. I think I will leave the welding to Gary!

Thanks for the memory,,,,,,,

Painting #14 Daily C

Okay, so this one took a lot longer than the others. The orange was drying out fast and curling up, so I had to take a photo of it while it was fresh. I started it around midnight and got the drawing on and some values in umber placed, then I called it a night.

Good thing I took a photo because it looked really bad this morning, even though I put water on it. With all this snow blowing around, it made perfect sense to just stay in and paint. I had lots of fun with this one and really got mesmerized by trying to capture the feel of an orange.

Then I finished and realized the rim was off plumb! I redrew the line and messed up the whole thing, as it lifted paint in an area that I felt I had just right....sigh! Well, here it is, reclaimed...

Daily C    5 x 7" oil on panel  

I bought two of these dessert dishes and shared one with my fellow daily painter, Kristen Dukat, so you may see the same one in a painting of hers real soon.

Thanks for looking...............Ruth Ann

Painting #9 "No matter how you slice it...

Some days you have so much pending, you almost forget what you were planning to do when you went to the studio. That was my day. Before I knew it, a couple of hours had gone by and I was running short on studio time to get my daily painting done.

I decided to grab a quick bite for lunch, first. The leftover cherry turnover made perfect desert. But wait, it was too hot to eat and the cherries oozing out the seam just screamed "paint me!". I was already to start when I just needed to change the angle.........too late! Gotta eat it. Yummy! Okay, on to plan B...

I had some leftover fruit that needed to be used or thrown out, so I sliced the orange and then the apple ........but that was a little boring, so I had decided to slice the apple sideways.....wa-la a set up!

The title seemed obvious...........

" No matter how you slice it, it is still apples to oranges..." 

5 x 7" oil on panel        

Painting #8 ......." Spurred On..."

All gessoed panels are not created equal! Today I wanted a different size than I had on hand in the Ampersand brand, so I used another brand from the local art supply store. I felt it was rather shiny and a little too slick so I used some 220 grit sandpaper on it and sanded in layers; first top to bottom, then cross that grain from side to side; then diagonal, then crossed that grain on another diagonal. Giving it less shine and a little texture, I proceeded to paint.

 "Spurred On"

8 x 8"   oil on panel  $75

To put it mildly, I struggled! Big time! I was too far into the painting to scrap it since I was feeling under the weather due to a reaction to medication, but I was determined to do the painting today.

The plan was to paint this with real drama and darks,  but I rather like it this way, too. I am pretty sure I will try it with the drama using linen on panel.

Painting #7 Study in Orange

What a wonderful day! Traveled to Dayton to one of the galleries I am in and while in town we took advantage of the American Chronicles.....Norman Rockwell exhibit at the DAI. Fabulous! It sure put me in the mood to want to paint people again.  That will wait for another day, though, when I can devote more time.

The first attempt today was a "wiper"....so I did just that and started over. Entire new set up. I was able to settle down and thoroughly enjoy the process............whoops, where did the time go? I love that part of the creative process....time has no meaning.

Looking forward to tomorrow...maybe I will do the spur again?????

White Challenge

I found it helpful to come across this challenge! There are so many paintings in my head, it is sometimes difficult to settle down to do one. This was a quick one hour study but I challenged myself to try to only make one stroke with each brushload! Very difficult for an artist such as myself, since I tend to do much more controlled paintings using a lot less paint.

There is no pure white in this entire painting...............but I had to squeeze out Titanium White three times! It was a fun challenge...