A couple of years ago I visited a family members home in another western state and hanging in their hallway was this large oil painting of Broken Bow Arch painted by my father, Byrd Bartholomew. Byrd really connected with that arch. He painted dozens of different versions. Along with twisted juniper trees, Broken Bow arch was his favorite oil painting subject. My mother and he hiked in there to photograph the arch regularly. When I saw the painting I barely remembered it. He painted it during the early 1970′s I know this because there is a similar composition hanging in a home in northern Utah. I really enjoy this Broken Bow arch painting because of the tree Byrd placed in the foreground. He really had a passion for the twisted junipers of Utah. The particular tree represented in this painting (and in others), he found growing along the side of the road between Calf Creek and Boulder. Utah in what is now The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Sadly for the tree and Byrd the road was widened during the late 80′s and the tree did not survive. I guess that he and the tree live on in this and several other of his paintings
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Brigham Young University’s Herald B. Lee Library added a couple of paintings of Broken Bow Arch by both myself and my dad to their permanent collection a few years ago. In some future blog entry I will try and feature those four paintings.
A couple years ago my mother planned a family hike down to the arch for old times sake the group included my mother, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. More than 30 decedents of the artist, Byrd Bartholomew made the trip. As the last of the group was leaving the arch to hike back up out of the canyon I snapped this photograph. (This link will show you the location.)
Just for fun a reader in Texas e-mailed me an image of her Byrd Bartholomew version of Broken Bow. Thanks Amy.
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.
While hiking with my family up near Buffalo Peak a few days ago a cloud shadow passed over as I was crossing one of the meadows along the trail and the contrast between to hazy pinkish summertime Mt. Timpanogos in the distance and the shadowed cool maple trees and meadow in my foreground caught my attention. I determined that I would give that contrasty feeling try. At the request of my internet guru Daniel I have included a short little tutorial on my working methods the subject is sketching landscape values with gray Prismacolor markers. I use them both in my sketch book and at times as an under-drawing for painting the advantage of using the markers is that they come in ten different values so if I draw my design with a light marker I can then fill in different values rapidly with the other markers in my little video I use a 30% 70% and 90% cool gray markers. I have painted over Prismacolor markers with oils and acrylics and I have never had any problems.
Utah lake from the Buffalo Peak trail, 11x14 oil on linen
I continue to enjoy oil painting with my knife! This oil painting of Utah Lake from the Buffalo peak trail is an interesting example of the perspective of disappearance as Leonardo da Vinci described it. Everything gets lighter and more blue as it appears to recede into the distance. We now call it atmospheric or aerial perspective , however the effect is the same now as it was for Leonardo the process makes us believe for a short time or perhaps longer that we are seeing space as opposed to the reality of the flat canvas. Understanding how to make or suggest space is one of the keys to landscape painting whether it be “en plein air” or in the studio. Art students should know the rules of aerial perspective described above They should also consider overlapping, and the rules of placement and scale every time they draw or paint the landscape.
I saw many potential compositions along the trail to Buffalo Peak and it only takes me 30 minutes to drive up there. So check back soon and see what kind of space I can make of those vistas.
PS don’t forget the insect repellent when you go out drawing and painting during the summer. The itchy welts on my legs will remind me.
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.
This painitng depicts one of the meadows which are located on the east slope of Buffalo Peak.
It has been a while since I have been able to paint. A short list of distractions both good and bad which have kept me out of the paint might include; slot canyon hiking, holidays, hikes, 5K runs, playing with grand children, bike rides, professional conferences, final testing, graduations, home repairs, flooded basement(I am not kidding) the list could go on. Finally I was able to get out and draw and photograph some landscapes to paint. Last week I went to the ridge trail above American Fork Canyon an area where I have painted before on several occasions. This week went up the Squaw Peak trail above Provo and did several drawings in the Buffalo Peak area. I have painted near there before but I was impressed with the location and I plan on working there again soon. I have included a studio study which I made yesterday (July 15th 2010). The main problem I was trying to solve aside from capturing the essence of the place was the mass of yellow balsam root flowers and the texture their very green foliage presented. I think the palette knife helped me capture the “feel” of the foliage. I am still working on ideas from Cozumel and Arches hopefully my schedule will let me squeeze them in soon. Below is a mostly silent video of this painting being made.
Wow! It has been months since I posted anything new. Like almost everyone, I have been busy. I have been helping my students complete their portfolios, visiting Cozumel, getting my yard in order and the list could go on.
I thought I would restart my blog by posting another painting by my father, Byrd Bartholomew. This painting has an interesting story. The composition is a view from south of Mount Nebo with one of Byrd’s trademark twisted junipers. He painted it in the early sixties and donated it to our local church. I remember seeing it every Sunday when I was a kid and feeling proud that my father’s painting was hanging in our church building. Sometime in the early seventies church leaders decided to remove original art from all the buildings in our area. The painting would have been sent to the garbage dump or perhaps the local thrift store (Deseret Industries for those of you from Utah). One of my mother’s good friends was the local woman’s church group leader (ward Relief Society president). She saw the painting and retrieved it from the discard pile and attempted to return it to Byrd. Byrd knew that she really loved the painting and promptly told her that it was now hers to keep forever. I understand that it is still a treasured work of art in their home even though the original rescuer and her husband have passed away Their children and grandchildren still love and enjoy the painting.
My dad only sold a very few of the works of art he made. He made hundreds of oil paintings, sculptures, drawings and watercolors. He gave them away freely with only one stipulation that when the recipient grew tired of the art work they should return it. I only know of one living recipient who actually returned a painting.
I am sitting in my living room looking at a 40 x 30 oil painting of Stewart Cascade. I painted it about two years ago. It was made when I was using only a palette knife to paint with (no brushes). The design is from a plein air painting I did on location the summer of 2007. Rhonda and I love the little hike from Aspen grove over to Stewart Cascade. It is only a couple of short miles, with the chance of seeing wildlife,wildflowers and the occasional Sundance celebrity. We have been hiking and cross country skiing in the area for many years. Both of us hiked this trail while we were high school students in Orem High schools Unified Studies course. I think it is one of our favorite spots. I have had this sweet palette knife work on my wall for nearly a year now and I have an itch to put up something new , a painting from another one of my favorite spots . Maybe One of my recent Arches paintings, several of them would fit the frame or perhaps something new and very blue from Cozumel (since I am rhyming only time will tell). check Ebay to see what small studio or plein air paintings I have for sale there this week. If you are interested in giving this Stewart Cascade painting a home contact me via e-mail.
Greetings, here is a time lapse video of me painting a small (11 x 14 inches) color-value sketch. This type of small painting or sketch will help me as I design and create a larger oil painitngs. One thing I discovered as I made this little sketch of Turret Arch in Snow was an interesting rhythm created by the alternating snow and sandstone patterns on both sides of the image. When I create the larger painting I will try to emphasize those patterns. I also discovered a value shift I need to make between the sky and the sun lite sandstone. Ideas like these are just a couple of the reasons why I like to paint smaller versions of the landscapes I eventually paint large.
I hope you enjoyed this little video. If you are interested in this little painting or any other works you see here contact me. Check out what I have on Ebay this week.
Wow ! here is another blast from the past I painted this lovely view of Zions Canyon back in the 1980′s while I was attending Brigham Young University. It found Its way into the collection of the Springville Museum of Art. It has been loaned around by them, I know for a while it was in the Governor of Utah’s residence. I have been a fan of Maynard Dixons work for a long time. I decided to find the exact spot where Maynard painted his wonderful painting “High in the Morning” a particular favorite of mine.
My wife Rhonda and I found the spot above Angels Landing on the Lava Point trail. I painted this and about a dozen other smaller works base on the photos and sketches I made on that hike.
If you would like a print of this painting contact me for details. Many works from the Spingville collection are available through FOV editions in Provo, Utah.
Check back soon for new updates from my studio. Check out my ebay listings I try and Offer small studio works and plein air studies there weekly. The Link to the Springville collection for a better view of this painting is;
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