New Equipment

Since coming out to Sedona, I have done more "plein air" painting. I really enjoy painting on location. I wanted to buy one of the French Pochade boxes that has everything self-contained but they always seemed too expensive. But, a friend gave me a tripod, so I decided to splurge and buy a French Resistance box. It is similar to the Pochade but a bit smaller and lighter. It has a small pallette area, holes for your brushes, a compartment in the lid for paints, etc and can hold up to an 18x24 canvas or panel.

I decided to splurge when (brag alert) one of my paintings at the Sedona Art Center sold and I got word that I have a buyer for my painting in the Norfolk Cultural Center show. So, I have found money to pay my credit card bill.

Here's a photo of the box on site near the Honanki Indian ruin. It is sitting on a tripod (it came with a quick release). You may be able to see that the brushes can stand up when inserted into the holes and you can hang your paper towels from the box. I have clamped a slightly larger palette to the box to give a little more room for the paint and to make cleaning it a bit easier. This palette is stored in the lid (with some minor modifications that I will work on when I get home). So, far I really like this set up. I bought a few more of those Art Cocoons so now everything I need is in my knapsack making it very easy to carry what I need to a location.

This was a great spot. There was an old cattle chute, used to load cattle onto a truck, and a watering hole. During the day, the sun passes almost directly overhead so that at any given time all the shadows will be changing. Got to work fast.

SAC Member Show

Friday night was the Sedona Art Center Member show. We became members a couple of years ago, but this was the first time I submitted anything for the juried show. All 3 of my paintings were accepted.
The opening night was part of the 1st Friday Gallery Tour in Sedona so there was quite a crowd. This photo of the Art Center doesn't reflect the crowd as everyone was inside.

There was an eclectic display of sculpture, glass work, stone work as well as traditional 2 dimensional art. There were awards in each category, but, alas, I was not among the fortunate recipients. Maybe next time. I was pleased to have been juried in. Although there were signs to NOT photograph the artwork, I figured I could sneak a shot of one of my own works. This bronc rider from a photo taken at the Tucson Rodeo is, coincidentally, placed next to my friend Michael Johnson's painting of the Grand Canyon.

I took this picture, below, at about 5:45 from the back steps of the Sedona Art Center. Not bad, eh?

The "Best in Show" was awarded to an "emerging artist" for her bronze sculpture of two hands painting a Navajo pot. Once it set in that I wasn't going to win the "Best of Show" we went out to dinner with Bill and Sarah.