That evening we attended a talk and visual presentation of the personal work of the Keynote Speaker – Stuart Shils – for the Sedona Plein Aire Festival. I was so worried I was going to fall asleep during the slide presentation. The room was dark, I was tired, and sitting at the back of the room – and it did get a little boring – sorry Sedona Art Center. But, I will say I did like his work – but it is very minimalist, abstract and contemporary.
 |
| Michael Chesley Johnson and myself perched in Jerome -- cool day! |
 |
| Mark Hemleben in Jerome - a new friend we admire! |
 |
| David Lussier in Jerome - a Facebook friend and now in real life! |
On Thursday, the festival artists had exactly two hours – from 10 am to 12 noon – to create a painting at Los Abrigados and Tlaquepaque – this is called a “quick draw”. There was a sale of the artwork immediately after the finish of the painting. What a treat – this was a location with a creek, rocks, etc. which was so different from the earlier work of “red rocks”! This would be our last opportunity to see the festival artists at work. How sad!
 |
| Tom Lockhart at "Quick Draw" A fantastic artist with Ginny Dauth |
 |
| Joshua Been at the "Quick Draw" The little painting on the ground - well, I bought that one. |
 |
| Greg La Rock at the "Quick Draw" He and his wife, Lori - new friends And he is a fabulous artist! |
When we left for lunch I contacted a friend, Leslie B. DeMille and we were invited to his house in the Village of Oak Creek. This was a special treat – we arrived at his home, saw some of his artwork, and then he surprised us with saying “Okay, which of you will sit for me to do a conte drawing?” Of course, I was going to be the one – since I was the instigator of this visit. But, it did allow Candy Day and Virginia (Ginny) Dauth to have the honor of watching one of the “masters” create a drawing!
I have the sketch and will treasure it. What a special day and a great visit! He is such a wonderful artist. We left his house and painted at Bell Rock and Courthouse Rock. What a full day!
 |
| Oil from the Bell Rock Vista parking lot -- but not Bell Rock! Still trying to evaluate color mixtures. |
 |
| Dry Creek Tree - Pastel 9 x 12 This is previous day of painting - second of the day! |
Friday we drove out Dry Creek Road again – to Boynton Pass Road – further than we drove the other day. We painted on top of a small hill and had views of the buttes, and the mountains – but more blue than red! I painted three paintings that day – all oils and probably my best oil paintings so far. I was trying to simplify the larger shapes and not get to “decorative”! Which is very hard for me.
 |
| Oil at Boynton Pass Road - Second painting of the session that day! |
 |
| Oil at Boynton Pass Road - third painting of that day! |
Saturday morning was the “Public” art sale – and final festival day. It was billed as meet the artists day and see the work that had been created all week. There was a “Gala” the evening before, and possibly some paintings sold that we did not get to see. The cost for the gala was $100 to attend and we opted not to do it.
We were there early on Saturday and it was fun to see so much plein air work and in so many different styles of art. They had also awarded ribbons the evening before. We said goodbye to many new artist friends and hope to keep up with them now and even trade information. Each one we met and talked with was so willing to share any knowledge they had! What great people!
I have more painting to show and what we have done -- but will save it for the next post. I know . . .
this was a very long one with many pictures! I know you are enjoying seeing everything I can load up on here. I don't usually post to my blog this often, as I don't like to inundate everyone with so much. But, I did say I would post as often as possible from this fantastic trip out West!
Until next time!
1 comment:
You got some great paintings out of the week, Marsha! And thanks for the picture of me. I didn't know Leslie lived in Sedona!
Post a Comment