Fool Hollow State Park Paint Out

On Saturday, July 19th, I participated in the Fool Hollow State Park Paint Out. The Arizona State Parks sponsor a series of monthly paint out across the year. Each month's paint at is scheduled at one of the state parks across the state. Although I have done a lot of plein air painting this was my first competitive plein air outing.

Fool Hollow State Park is a small park surrounding Fool Hollow Lake just outside of Show Low, AZ. There is a great campground, fishing docks, a boat launch, nice ramadas with views of the lake shaded by the towering pines. Truly a great place for a paint out!

Thirteen artists from various locations around the state met at the identified ramada at 8:00 am to sign in and have our paper or canvas stamped on the back. We then had four hours to select a site and complete a painting. At noon we met back at the ramada where the paintings were laid out on picnic tables identified only by a number. The participating artists voted for the first, second and third place paintings. The three paintings will be a part of a year end gallery showing at a gallery in Tubac, AZ

I am not a fast painter, so my primary goal for this first competitive paint out was to bring a piece to a level of completion within the given amount of time. This I accomplished! My second goal was to have fun and meet new people. This was also accomplished! It truly was a great experience. I am looking forward to participating in future state park paint outs!

Catching Up

Summer in Arizona is always hot...but this year they are predicting a hotter than normal summer. We have had a very good start with a number of days over 110. Mornings are wonderful to be outside enjoying the Sonoran Desert....but midday my studio is a great place to be! I have been using the studio time to do some catchup in the form of pieces that were close to completion plein air...but needed some fine tuning and polishing.

Bagno Vignoni Cottage was done in Italy on a day that went from sunny to rainy to cloudy and back to sunny. Luckily my choice of painting position was located under an overhang on a building that allowed me to keep painting as others packed up quickly and ran for cover. This cottage was so picturesque with the reflections in the water, the beautiful old stone and the lush spring vegetation, that it begged to be painted.

Oak Creek Rapids is a piece that was also done plein air in the Sedona area. I found a spot on a large rock on the bank of the creek with the delightful rapids due to rocks and logs right in front of me. I was intrigued if I could capture the action of the rapids.....I am pleased with the results. Sedona is known for the red rocks...but Oak Creek has pulled me to the pastels more than once.