Buffalo on the east shore of Antelope Isaland, Great Salt Lake, Utah.

I spent the first good day of summer here in Utah hiking and sightseeing with Rhonda out on Antelope Island. Antelope Island is part of the Utah State parks system, it is known for its wildlife.  We saw lots of antelope, waterfowl, a couple of hundred buffalo and a lone coyote. The most numerous wildlife we encountered were the no see um biting gnats. They were in our ears and hair withing minutes of our arrival. I was glad we had purchase nets to put over our heads and some insect repellent for our exposed skin. I would not have enjoyed our visit nearly as much and we might have had to cut it short. I was reminded of Humphrey Bogart in the African Queen when the flies were eating he and Katherine Hepburn alive. I was grateful that we were only hiking and photographing on this trip. I am afraid I would have given up painting before I even got started….. there is nothing quite like an oil painting filled with dying insects.

I saw some interesting orange flowers, scarlet globe mallow, blooming in the midst of the sea of purplish-green June grass surrounding the trail. There were  scattered sage brush and boulders punctuating the scene so I decided to work those ideas into a painting. ….which is what I am working on now. I have spent a few hours with this painting and I am still struggling with the color and the texture. The color scheme is a secondary triad of orange, violet and green. This is a color scheme I have rarely used particularly when no single color is dominant. The textural feel I am building with the strokes of the palette or painting knife have an interesting movement from the bottom of the meadow shape up to the boulder shapes. I hope to have this painting completed soon. I will post the completed painting along with the in progress view I have included here.

Antelope Island outcrop (in progress) 20 x 30 oil on canvas.

Antelope Island outcrop 20 x 30 oil on canvas

The completed version shows more development of the value and texture in the foreground I have included a detail of the knife work below. Based on the completed version shown above I have invested in several new painting knives, including some fairly large tools that could be sued to flip a burger or a small pancake. I am excited to try them so check back soon and see the resulting experiment. The image I selected to try out my big new knives is an east coast view from my trip to Cozumel. You may now purchase prints and cards of some of my painting s at  Fine Art America .

Knife details from my "Antelope island outcrop"

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"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.
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A new 20 x 16 oil painting of Aspens. "Big Al's Meadow"

A few years ago I did a little plein air oil painting in a little grove of aspens above the Aspen Grove area of the alpine loop (near Sundance, Utah). It is a favored location of mine. I painted this location a long time ago way back in 1975. That painting was made for one of my favorite high school teachers, Al Davis. That old painting was a winter time view and it was a watercolor. Last time I talked to his daughter, Nancy, the painting was still hanging in her mothers home. I think of Al every time I drive past that spot. Another memory I have of that spot happened in 1977. my younger brother an I we on a winter camping Nordic ski tour. It was a full moon that night and we skied by the light of the full moon. We set up camp very near this little grove of trees and nearly froze to death. According to the weather it had been -40 degree Fahrenheit. That night. cars that were parked in the Sundance parking lot had frozen radiators. I learned a couple of things on that outing; I did not really like winter camping and checking on the weather forecast prior to any outdoor activity might be a good idea.

A friend at work was looking for a painting of Aspens or that Sundance area and I thought of that little stand of trees and started to work.  The results are included here I made a 16 x 20 version for my friend at work and I made a large scale work that has more of a golden tone.  I have exhibited the larger work a couple of times.  I am now offering some prints of the larger versionimpressionist paintings aspens paintings aspens art

I was happy about the results. Viva la palette knife!

"The Dancing Sun" 36 x 48 oil on canvas - Stephen Bartholomew

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 arttimpanogos paintingsutah canvas printsmountain bike paintingsmountain paintings

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.

A view from the top of Ferron canyon 9 x 12 oil on linen.

I made it back from the mountains and Rhonda and I survived our third annual fall sprint triathlon (Camp Yuba Tri). I am back at school and jumped back into my oil painting studio by palette knifing this little green, blue and yellow gem. It is a view from the top of Ferron canyon. I  just completed the view shown below of a little bed of Asters that had escaped being eaten by the herd of sheep grazing in the area. There has been a sheep camp at the top of the canyon for several years complete with sheep herder and his friendly dogs and horses. Ferron canyon is one of many canyons that link into the Skyline Drive, a road that follows what I call the spine of Utah. The road on Skyline Drive runs along the top of a mountain range where the average altitude is around 9500 ft with the high point being 10700 feet which is just above Ferron canyon, the location of the featured painting . I have painted many paintings in the area and will continue to do so. Watch for more paintings being added to this post.

9 x 12 oil on linen "Ferron Aster Bed"

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Four 12 x 16 views near buffalo peak

About a month ago I went hiking and rediscovered the Buffalo Peak area near the Squaw Peak road (near Provo, Utah) Since then I have shared some of the results in other posts. I thought I would share these efforts today they are all four middle of the day as well as middle of the summer paintings meaning the sun was fairly high in the sky when the dark and light patterns were established. Which makes for high contrast and a bunch of green. Although summer has finally found its way up there and the undergrowth has browned and yellowed up a bit. All four were created using only the palette knife. I have a view of the north face of “Y” mountain from the Buffalo Peak trail in the works now and it is also a small knife painting and as I said in my last post, images from my recent Fish Lake trip are still floating around in my head. On the topic of images floating in my head, ideas from Cozumel and the amazing water and sky surrounding the island are always on my mind they just haven’t hit the canvas yet.(Perhaps all the floating images in my head are due to my ongoing exposure to turpentine.) If you are visiting my blog/web site for the first time make sure you sign up for my blog updates.

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I spent yesterday and the day before listening to a giant floor sander sand the oak floors above my studio and today I am breathing some interesting fumes from the finish being applied up there. It is a good thing though, the water that flooded the area had damaged the oak floor. Well enough of home repairs. I did get a little painting finished yesterday despite the distractions of noise and fumes. As I mentioned above I was working on a view of the the north face of “Y” mountain. The composition as you can see includes plenty of interesting foreground elements and the shapes of several nearby mountains. After looking at the painting for a couple of hours I have decided to try it again, only in the new version I will focus in on the unique geology and surface quality of the mountain and reduce the foreground and surrounding space to a minimum.
Today I worked up this study of the north face of “Y” mountain. I did try and focus in more on the face of the specifics of “Y” mountain. I eliminated most of the foreground. However, I could not help but put in some of those persistent balsam roots which are still struggling to bloom up on the side of the mountain. I like the alternating striped patterns that are created by the changes in the ground cover; meadows, stands of trees, and cliffs all mixed together with late morning light and shadow. I think I may find my jeep pointed in that direction again sometime in the near future There are many paintings waiting to be made along that one mile buffalo peak trail. to be continued…….landscape paintings

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.

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Lower Provo River view 2 11 x 14 oil on linen

Storm clouds north of Cherry Creek Utah 11 x14 oil on canvas

I got a chance to spend an hour or two in my studio today looking at the drawings and photographs I took out along the Pony Express route last week. When I decided to go out west I was thinking about Maynard Dixon and some of his big sky desert compositions so I felt lucky that I got a day with all kinds of clouds. I liked the movement in the clouds when I saw them. I think I will paint these clouds again and modify the composition a bit move and enhance the focal point and have more sky and even less ground, like my sketchbook drawing. Check back later this week and I’ll add the new composition to this post.

Another Cloud study north of cherry creek 12 x 16 oil on linen

I captured more of the circular shape I was first attracted to out on the desert in this study.

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