Stephen Bartholomew » outdoor fun

Cozumel Light and Color

stephen — Sun, 22 May 2011 13:50:40 +0000

April sunset Cozumel island Mexico

I just returned from Cozumel for the third time. This trip was a little less of a tourist excursion and more of an artist excursion (although we did do a lot of snorkeling and a bit of scuba diving), I spent more time on the wild east side of the island near the limestone arches at El Mirador and along the more serene beach at Punta Sur Parque west of the southern lighthouse. The Sea was calm(relatively) on both days.

As an art student I read about Van Gogh’s time in the south of France. I learned that he was captivated by the light and color I am not sure I truly understood how that could happen until my first visit to the wild east shore of Cozumel with its vivid color contrast and bright tropical sun. The “Cozumel” light and color has had had a lasting impact on my ” painting Psyche”. Hopefully in the weeks and months to come I can share some examples of Cozumel’s light and color as I feel and see it. The first struggle is finding the correct pigment or color I have settled in with a couple of turquoise blues and greens along with my usual cobalt and ultramarine. I will see how the color in the next few paintings feel. I am working larger “studio sized” works now. I made enough photographs and sketches for eight to ten large oil paintings while I was there. I have two underway in my studio now. One of the paintings really took on a VanGogh-esc feeling as I started to finish it. I really liked the way I was able to guide the paint around the water and rocks. The painting I am referring to is of one of the arches near El Mirador on the east side of Cozumel.. I have included two photographs one of a sunset we enjoyed and one of a reef we snorkeled.

Beach View Cozumel 2011 #1, 20 x 30 oil on canvas

Arch View Cozumel 2011 #2, 20 x 30 oil on canvas

Wave View Cozumel 2011 #3, 20 x 30 oil on canvas

A bit of studio news… I shipped out another free painting to another lucky reader. She selected one of my ” Cozumel Wave ” paintings as her free painting. If you are interested in any of my Cozumel art or having me create a painting from your Cozumel photo contact me. I may give another painting or print away in the near future check the links at the top of my blog page for details.You may now purchase prints and cards of some of my painting s at Fine Art America . To purchase any painting you see in my blog contact me .cozumel art

Punta sur reef, Cozumel, Mexico

Temple Mountain Tapastry

stephen — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:10:02 +0000

"Temple Mountain Tapestry" 30 X 40 Oil on canvas

November couple of years ago my wife and I went down to the San Rafel Swell area of central Utah to hike a couple of slot canyons that pass through the titled mass of Navajo sandstone that runs north and south through the east side of the “swell”. We had just finished an afternoon out and back hike through Crack canyon and we were driving back towards Temple Mountain. As the sun was going down it illuminated Temple Mountain with golden light. I was lucky to have been there. We camped that cold night south of Goblin valley near the entrance to the Ding and Dang slot canyons. It was a perfectly clear night and I made a couple of photographs of the stars. The next day we hiked through the two slot canyons, which were a bit more technical than we expected and then we made our way home. I painted this 30 x 40 knife painting as soon as we returned home I exhibited it at the Springville Museum of art in December of 2008. After the exhibit I brought it home and stored it. Last week I was digging around in my studio and it behind some other works and brought it into my room and hung it I think I like it. It takes me back to the San Rafel and its desolate sublime beauty.
utah paintings southwest paintings

Someone won a painting!

stephen — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 21:59:21 +0000

Waist deep in the cold water of the Tunnel Slot, near Harris Wash, Utah.

I have had a busy couple of weeks. My wife and I spent some time hiking around Bryce Canyon and then we travel to Escalante, Utah and hiked to and then waded through a couple of nifty slot canyons. I have often thought and sketched a few ideas about what a slot canyon painting of mine might look like. The problem for me is that a good photograph really captures the visual quality rather well. What I have yet to see in a good photograph is the closed in, deep inside the earth feeling that fills me when I am sliding sideways through some narrow gap in the rock. I believe sublime might be the correct word to describe what I am thinking about. I just need to get a good solid visual idea and then I’ll paint it. ( When my wife read this entry she suggested I should just start a painting and see what happens. I think she is right!)

Speaking of painting this week in my studio I have been creating a small studio painting based on a plein air painting I did a couple of years ago up at the Sundance Ski resort. The day I made the plein air sketch was a memorable one, as a tall blond young woman invited me to leave. She informed me that I was painting in an area reserved for mountain bikes. Even when I presented her with my season pass which I had used to ride up the lift she was insistent that I leave so I complete the sketch at home. This version is a bit larger. I feel like it captures the day rather well. The day was a slightly overcast mid-morning in late June. I enjoyed several plein air painting outings in the Sundance and Aspen grove area that summer in fact a large waterfall painting I blogged about a couple of months ago started out as a small study, which I painted standing just below the lowest snow field depicted in this painting. It was an interesting outing that day over by Stewart cascade, a few hikers who were visiting the falls stopped and visited with me. Painting is usually a solitary effort for me so it was a change to talk and paint it reminded me of my old high school days when art class was mainly gab session.

On the easel. An in-progress view of a small studio oil painting.

My first newsletter contest came to an end. The lucky winner now has her painitng. If you entered and did not win you are in luck I will be giving away another framed oil painting away in September of 2011 and you are already entered. Any new readers who would like a chance to win should, click the “win a painting” link at the top of my blog and follow the instructions.

Looking out my front window I see the storm last week left a nice white blanket on the upper halves of the Wasatch Mountains. The slope depicted in this painting already has a dusting of snow and most likely the snow making machines are running at night or they will be soon. I love the snow.( I am just not crazy about the cold). I can look at this painting and already imagine myself running down this section of the hill in three weeks I hope.sundance art timpanogos paintings utah canvas prints mountain bike paintings mountain paintings

Iron Shore and Surf – Cozumel

stephen — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:20:05 +0000

9 x 12 oil on linen. "Cozumel Wave"

As I sat in my studio a few days ago I kept looking at the little knife painting I made of the southern tip of Cozumel last week and I really like it! It inspired me to look through my materials from Rhonda and I’s last trip and find another composition from which to paint. I looked through a bunch of fun photos and some drawings and I found enough material to put together this little composition. It had to move a few elements around but I really like what I ended up with. Painting this stuff gets me all fired up to book a trip and head south! Unfortunately a trip will have to wait for a couple of months. Along with relaxing and soaking up the sun and looking for inspiration I look forward to jumping in the ocean and peeking at the fish, turtles, coral and other undersea wonders. Snorkeling with a camera has become one of my fun new hobbies.

I will be giving a painting away in September of 2011! All you need to do is sign up for my news letter. Check back soon.

9 x 12 oil on linen "Cozumel Wave 2"

Well it’s been a couple of days and I painted another little painting from just about the same spot. My point of view is a little higher on the shore. I included a little sea lavender in the foreground. I love the sweet smell of the sea lavender as you dive along the eastern beach road. On the west side of the Island there are some really big bunches of these near some of the resorts maybe I’ll paint a west side view next with some more sea lavender shapes in the foreground.

One of my fun photos from our last trip to cozumel. The snorkeling is awesome!

Painting with a knife.

stephen — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:58:12 +0000

I have been oil painting with a knife almost exclusively for the last several months or at least since June. I have fielded a couple of comments from online friends and collectors that are mostly positive. I think I am going to keep it up for a while longer and see where it takes me. I do enjoy the immediacy of the process. The painting happens fast and I can correct areas I am not happy with almost as fast as I originally painted them. Knife painting feels clumsier than painting with a brush and for me that may be where the excitement is right now. Not having control makes each painting a bit more challenging and perhaps the challenge evidenced in the final painting is the magic for me.

I use only a couple of knives; a small short trowel, a longer narrow trowel and a square ended blade. I do most of my painting with the long skinny trowel pictured in the middle below.

My most used knives. Blocking in the darkest values.

When I work on larger paintings I use a couple of larger trowels and a large spatula-like palette knife. When I use the knives to paint I often go directly to the color which I think is correct for the spot, particularly when I am painting “en plein air”. At times when I feel that an overall tone might help create unity I block in the value pattern completely with a contrasting tone.

A simplified value block in done with Eqyptian violet and titanium white.

By laying down a thin layer of violet or blue I may achieve a bit of atmosphere. By using a warmer tone underneath could imply the feeling of time of day or season or just make the painting more interesting. A layer of color knifed on at the start of an alla prima* painting may make it more challenging for a beginner.
(* alla prima meaning that the entire process is completed while the paint is wet)

The Painting I put up today is a small study of Emerald Lake. Emerald Lake lies to the east of the Skyline drive road in central Utah, south of the Twelve Mile Flats campground. I may be mistaken, but I think the Twelve Mile Flats campground is the highest campground in the nation at around 10,300 feet. I first saw Emerald Lake sometime during the 1960′s while riding to a nearby snowbank to get snow so my grandmother could make ice cream for us on the fourth of July. I recall having a snowball fight while the adults shoveled a couple of bags of snow. The geology of the whole area consists of bright white limestone covered by rich dark soil which makes for some interesting contrast.

9 x 12 oil on linen. Emerald Lake #1

The title Emerald Lake #1 implies that there will be at least one more so check back in a few days and see what I make. Check out my painting give away link at the top of my page.

Check out my works for sale page, if you are interested in this or any of the works on my site that are not listed there contact me.

Cozumel Thoughts… and a new oil painting! (and a video)

stephen — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:03:20 +0000

I am always thinking of paintings I need to make: Arches, Skyline drive, the mountain peaks all around Utah valley and Moab. This list could go on and on but at the end of my list making I keep on thinking of the blue Caribbean sea around Cozumel. It calls to me. I waste tons of time looking at my vacation photos and sketches from those shores; I seem to never tire of them. I just can’t seem to make it happen. It being a composition which takes me there. I feel pretty confident about capturing the sea colors and space. It is the horizontal nature of the island, beach and sea which seem to cause me artistic grief. Perhaps it is because I was raised in the high desert around mountains and canyons that I stumble during my composition phase. I have considered including palm trees for my vertical shapes. However, it is the horizontal water, the surf, the rocks and sand that I am drawn to when I am there, particularly the eastern wild side of the island. Why am I writing this you may ask …….. because I am going to quit whining about it and get into my studio now and grab my painting knife and I am going to paint the wild water at the southern tip of the island based on photos I took this spring and then I am going to post it…….

9 x 12 oil on linen . "Southern Tip"

Well I got the little baby painted. I feel pretty good about it right now. I tried to solve the composition by using diagonal shapes to offset the flatness of the horizon.

I think its kind of odd for a landlocked artist to paint the sea that is a couple of thousand miles away. Maybe I just need to go back down there and spend a couple of days…or weeks.

Check back again I should have something new painted by Sunday. I can’t say if it will be Utah mountains, deserts or canyons. It may even be another view of the Caribbean sea.

Enter to win a framed original painting!

An after thought …. I had a bunch of snorkeling video from my last trip to Cozumel so I put it together to use it for the Photography courses I teach.Here it is …

I am out in the mountains…..and back to school.

stephen — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:49:39 +0000

Fall is in the air. School has started. I find myself bouncing back and forth between my new art students at school and being out in the mountains on my annual fall hunting retreat with my brothers and my sons. In the past I have taken my paint box along to the mountains and worked some small compositions while not out hiking around the mountains. I have opted for my digital camera and sketch book this year. I plan on diving in to the studio and recording every wonderful moment I am witnessing. It is amazing to be out in the forest at 10,000 feet and just listen to the wind sing in the trees, or stand in a spruce thicket and have squirrels drop pine cones on your head as they scold you vigorously. It is cool to look up and see the early morning clouds just racing past as they catch those first rays of sunlight. In the evening the intense last orange-red sunlight on the tops of the peaks and edging the clouds looks like glorious glowing hot metal. As I list these things I am reminded that I spend to much time indoors. Well it is back to school and then back to the mountains.I love wearing my three “hats” this time of year, artist, educator and hunter its an interesting combination, I find myself looking for compositions or just admiring the way the light carves its way across a meadow while I am supposed to be hunting…… I guess that’s why I am not a very successful hunter. I almost always come home empty handed.
Watch for the new paintings coming soon……Cozumel, Arches, Buffalo Peak and whatever I see the next couple of weekends.
Do Not Forget to sign up for my e-mail news letter you could win a painting!

Gone Fishing – Provo River – palette knife oil painting

stephen — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:03:10 +0000

View from the old steel bridge in Provo canyon - oil on linen -11 x 14

Greetings, I had the chance to go fly fishing with my son Nathan. We got up early and went up along the Provo river near Vivien park. The darn fish were not interested in our flies no matter how we presented them. We stayed in the cold water for about an hour and a half and along with whipping the water with my fly line I watched the sunshine creep down the south end of Mt. Timpanogos and bathe the canyon in bright August light.
Nathan and I decided to try our luck further down the river so we found ourselves near the mouth of Provo canyon standing in the water below the Murdock irrigation dam and finally we ended up on an old steel bridge, where we actually could see several nice brown trout feeding lazily in the clear shallow water. Fortunately for them (and us) they could see us too so nobody got hooked. After watching the fish for a few minutes I looked up stream to the east and decided I was done fishing and needed to get painting.
I wanted to capture the sunlight bouncing off the shallow stream contrasting against the shadowed foliage. I am still enjoying the palette knife. The way it deposits the color on the canvas seems good. I am painting another view from the old bridge. I will add it to this post soon.

Lower Provo River view 2 11 x 14 oil on linen

In this second version I tried to focus in on the contrast between the highlights on the water and the shadowed cottonwoods. Today I also worked on a drawing from my trip up to Buffalo peak. It is the view from the peak looking south towards the north face of “Y” mountain. I have also been working on some ideas from my recent family camping trip to Fish Lake.

Caught in the rain! No oil painting today

stephen — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:57:41 +0000

As a boy scout I camped near this marker. As a scoutmaster I camped here with my troop.

I woke up yesterday morning and decided to go paint or draw something different as I left my house at 6:30 a.m. I looked east towards the mountains and something told me to go west to the desert. I drove out into western Utah along the historic Pony Express route. It must have been the ghost of Maynard Dixon who told me to go west. As the early morning sun lit up the desert peaks and wide valleys I was reminded of Dixon’s clean, simple and elegant compositions. If you read my blog you will discover that Maynard Dixon is one of my hero’s. I drove past several Pony Express markers and found myself out near Simpson Springs. I saw an interesting mountain to the south so I headed that way. I checked my GPS(Rhino 120) and noticed that I did not have the maps loaded for this particular part of Utah. For some unexplained reason I had neglected to tell my wife, Rhonda where I was headed as I was thinking that very thought my steering felt a little mushy. I was about 60 miles north of Delta, Utah that was my best chance at a cell signal I checked my phone and actually made contact with her although it was a very very poor connection. She was surprised when I told her I was out west. She had assumed that I was headed up into the mountains east of our home. I discovered that texting worked tons better so we continued our conversation via text messages. I am not very adept at that form of communication and I had to stop the vehicle for each text. On the second “text stop” I got out of the Jeep and noticed my left front tire was almost a pancake. I had been driving in and out of sand for 30 miles so I assumed the mushy felling I was getting was the sand….Not. To make matters worse to the south and west of me a large thunderstorm was brewing and the road I was on looked like it was a muddy beast when it got wet. I quickly repaired my tire and impatiently waited for my little compressor to do its thing while I watched the rain get closer.

Waiting on my little compressor to do its thing.

When the tire was pumped up I raced the storm across the desert, guessing at my route as my GPS and my jeep had no maps. After several snap road choices I made it to a gravel road north of the Little Sahara sand dunes just as the rain caught me. I was glad for a firm foundation. Well I took some interesting photos and made a couple of sketches but in all the fun I did not make a painting. Lessons learned today; tell someone where you are going, take a map or a loaded GPS with you, If the steering feels mushy check the tires and don’t go alone.

Ridge Trail Hike – Oil painting

stephen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:41:22 +0000

Looking back along the ridge trail above little deer creek

I oil painted this knife study based on a snapshot that I took a couple of weeks ago while Rhonda and I were hiking on the ridge trail above little deer creek. The ridge trail and alpine loop are areas where I have painted many paintings during the last few summers. One of the paintings I made in this area was part of the Midway Plein Air festival.
I am thoroughly enjoying painting with a knife again its almost as if I am carving the painting. The knife helps me suggest the landscape as opposed to describing it which is something I find myself doing when I use a brush.
I was up on Buffalo Peak yesterday again in the late afternoon with some of my family. Everyone was surprised at how green everything still is. Normally it has started to dry out by mid July at that altitude(7800-7900 ft). I plan on working the vistas in that Buffalo Peak area for the next couple of weeks so I better buy some green paint.