Tarte Roja (Afternoon Red)

Tarde Roja
Painting No. 2-B-13
8"x 8", oil on canvas

Late afternoon light slips along the canyon walls and brings the red rock of the Canyonlands to a blazing finale as I quickly set up my plein air equipment and capture the moment. 
How beautiful the fading light is here along the Colorado River, finer that most places I believe. Perhaps it's because of the clean air, I'm not sure, but the unique quality of light is hard to describe in adequate terms.  
 

Cloudy Day

Cloudy Day
Painting No.  1-B-13
8" x 10" oil on canvas panel

What do you do on your day off?
I go outside and work on plein air paintings. Today's effort was near Big Bend Campground just north of Moab, Utah. I like this area, lots of variety in a one mile stretch of river. It was cloudy today which puts a huge dampener on telling the story of how spectacular the rock formations are.

This drainage channel near the overflow campground was the nicest composition I could find this morning. I did manage to keep the coolest colors to the background and the warmest and brightest colors to the foreground; together with the variety of round, angular and vertical lines adds a certain amount of movement to a dreary day.

A Good Friday in Moab

Today the sun came out and brightened my day here in Moab. I rose early and went to the gym for a 40 minute run on the treadmill; still too cold to run outside. I like to listen to up beat music when I run; rock or dance music keeps me moving along. Today it was "The Cat Empire".....I'll let them tell you what they're all about;

Where hip-hop meets reggae, where jazz is played with dirty hands, where a Cuban line meets an Aussie rule, where nothing seems in place but sounds like many places played in one earthy chord. This is the island where THE CAT EMPIRE was born. (Written by the band in 2001)

This band is totally awesome, check them out at www.thecatempire.com

Breakfast at my usual spot the Red Rock Bakery & Cafe. Howard and staff serving up delicious locally roasted coffee and bagels....love this place. Now I just need to get the other artists and poets to join me once or twice a week to plot our overthrow of society :)

I also got word that my upcoming Beginning Pencil Drawing class at the MARC (Moab Art and Recreation Center) has 11 students and the Beginning Oil Painting class has 4 students. Classes start next week and run for 6 weeks. This should be fun and interesting.

Also I want to mention the Moab Brewery www.themoabbrewery.com , I had dinner there tonight where they served the most delicious vegetarian Asiago & Garlic Ravioli Dinner for $10.69. Really, really good.