Sedona 2015

By J. Brad Holt on 10/27/2015 7:49:42 PM
6 Comments

Painting from Sugarloaf Hill

It was my good fortune to be asked to participate in the Sedona Plein Air Invitational this year. I love painting in Sedona. It is a landscape painter's dream, although this year there was a figure painting track in the event as well. It's nice to win prizes, and sell work, and paint in awesome locations, but the main reason I look forward to these kinds of events is the friendships. Reconnecting with old friends, and meeting new ones is really what it is all about.

 

 

Painting in Downtown Sedona.

 

Our first event was the Downtown paint-out, on Saturday afternoon. You can see I chose a chaotic view right into the thick of traffic, with a formation called "The Sail" in the background. About a half hour into this painting, a large tour-bus parked directly in front of me, and sat there for fifteen minutes. Urban plein air is like that. You never know what's going to happen. Fortunately I was able to see enough of the cliffs and sky to be able to work on that portion for the interval.

 

Holt- Sedona Paint Out- 9x12- oil- 2015- plein air

 

I was pleased when the piece sold that afternoon. It was an encouraging start to the week. The following morning found me painting the Coffeepot from the flank of Sugarloaf, with my pals Bill Cramer and Josh Been. This is one of our favorite areas to paint in West Sedona, with a good mix of medium to close-in views. It's perfect for me right now as I have been "chunking" on cliff detail scenes. Chunking is a term I learned from Bryan Mark Taylor. It means to concentrate on one particular aspect of painting, and to do so fairly intensively for a certain period of time. After I finished the first one, I turned forty five degrees to the left, and painted the flank of Thunder Mountain.

 

Holt- Coffeepot Ledges- 9x12- oil- 2015- plein air

 

Holt- Chessmen-Thunder Mtn- 12x12- oil- 2015- plein air

 

Later that day I went a couple of bends up Oak Creek Canyon, and painted a no name ridge that caught my eye. Again I was working the medium to close- in view. Note the increasing cloud cover. By the following morning in Jerome, those clouds would translate into a cold blustery, stormy day.

 

Holt- Lower Oak Creek Canyon- 12x16- oil- 2015- plein air

 

Jerome is an interesting place. A mining town built on the side of Mingus Mountain, It ascends in a series of levels, with labyrinthine streets, and fabulous old buildings. Parts of it almost looked European. I chose a street scene which turned out to be less than a frisbee toss from the beautiful studio-gallery of my friend Cody DeLong. It was fun spending some time with him. The painting turned out nice, in spite of the dreadful weather, and in fact it sold within hours of being placed in the show. I regret that I did not get a good photo of it.

 

Painting in Jerome.

 

This is the only photo I got of the piece. I really look forward to painting in Jerome again. There are so many great possibilities, and the people there are very welcoming.

 

Holt- Cliff Study- Moonlight Drive- 9x12- oil- 2015- plein air

 

Back to dark red ledges, and blue-green Arizona Cypress groves on Wednesday. Moonlight Drive in West Sedona is another favorite painting spot. The pinyon-juniper forests around Sedona differ from the PJ back home in Utah, largely because the addition of the cypress lightens and blues the overall impression of the foliage. This has the effect of warming the reds in the rocks. A Utah painter like me has to unlearn some sandstone painting assumptions.

 

I was privileged to stay in Oak Creek Village with a wonderful couple, Ed and Cheryl Waale. It was very comfortable. Each day as I drove from the Village to Sedona, I passed the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which I recognized from my art history textbooks. I knew that sooner of later I would have to paint it. 

 

Holt- Chapel of the Holy Cross- 12x12- oil- 2015- plein air

 

I'm not thrilled with the piece. I feel that I was too direct with the depiction. I would like to try it again and get more impressionistic with it---perhaps find opportunities to lose some edges. Again you can see that I am chunking on the cliff detail.

 

Thursday morning found us all at another quick draw. This was at the L'Auberge Resort on Oak Creek, in downtown Sedona. It is a magical place, very swanky----in fact I felt like the red-headed stepchild, who stumbled into throne room. I felt good about the painting. It won one of the awards sponsored by Randy Higbee at King of Frame. I gave the piece to my hosts as a thank you gift.

 

Holt- Oak Creek- Paint Out- 12x16- oil- 2015- plein air

 

In the afternoon, the BAPA boys went out to Cathedral Butte, on the Moonlight Ranch. This is the most famous view in Sedona. It was overcast right up until the end, when the sun fell below the clouds, and the butte lit up like neon. This was a fun painting. It went on to win the 2016 Image Award, from the Sedona Arts Center.

 

Holt- Cathedral Butte- 12x16- oil- 2015- plein air

 

Friday morning found me back up on the Sugarloaf Trail. The last time I was up there I vowed I would come back and paint some cactus. There are marvelous specimens all along the trail. This was the last piece I painted for the show, and in some ways it was the most fun. The whole thing was candy. I felt good about the piece, and was happy to end on a high note. Overall I sold six pieces, two of which were from the paintings I brought with me. With those sales, and the two awards, I came away from Sedona walking on air. I can't wait to go back.

 

Holt- Cactus Study- Sugarloaf Trail- 12x16- oil- 2015- plein air