More Plein Air from Arizona

This is another painting I completed near Phoenix at the beginning of the month. This was painted near my friend's condo, looking upward in the late afternoon.

The rock formation at the top of the hill was interesting and many of the prickly pears were starting to bloom, along with some other plants I'm not familiar with. I was able to achieve the soft forms on the delicate plants that had previously eluded me.

9" x 12" oil on linen

Plein Air in Arizona

There's a trick to painting the desert en plein air and I haven't totally figured it out yet. It involves condensing multiples subjects --like shrubs and cactus and rocks-- into solid shapes. Matt Smith does it extremely well, but this Ohio painter always runs into a few difficulties.

Still, this year's efforts were better than many of my others. My friend and I painted in a conservation area near the Sonoran Desert and the fresh dry air was welcome, especially when I knew that fiends and family back in Ohio were experiencing record quantities of rain.

I think I did a passable job on the saguaros. They are challenging. What I really love about this area are the misty purple mountains. Whenever possible I set up my easel so I am facing then so I can include them in my painting.

9" x 12" oil on linen

Wild Burros Have Been Here for Many Years

I came across this friendly Wild Burro munching on some palo verde at a horse ranch a couple years ago when I was in AZ. The little guy didn't seem to be bothered at all by tourists with cameras so I snapped a few shots and forgot about them until the other night when I was going through some images looking for interesting subjects to paint. 
 
A little background on the Wild Burro: First introduced into the Desert Southwest by Spaniards in the 1500s, they range through a wide variety of desert habitats, as long as they are within 10 miles of drinking water. They they feed on a variety of of plants, including grasses, Mormon Tea, Palo Verde and Plantain. Although some moisture is provided by these plant materials, Wild Burros must have drinking water throughout the year. 

Females give birth to one colt each year, which grows to an average weight of about 350 pounds. Since the Wild Burro has no natural predator, competitor or common diseases, most young burros reach maturity and may live as long as 25 years in the wild.

Early prospectors relied heavily on burros as they trekked long distances across the deserts in search of gold and silver. Many of these burros survived, even though their owners perished under the harsh desert conditions. Many more burros escaped or were released during the settlement of the West. Because of their hardiness, Wild Burros have thrived throughout the North American deserts, and their numbers have increased to perhaps 20,000.

The Barista, a Coffee Shop Portrait

I was in a coffee shop in Patagonia, AZ this past January and all the people were freezing. Even though it was January, they weren't used to temperatures in the teens. Normally a low temperature in southern AZ is 40 degrees. So our waitress, who is known as a barista in a coffee shop, was willing to pose for a photo when my friend Charlotte asked her to. A lovely woman, with beautiful skin and gorgeous red hair!

The Barista

12" x 9"

oil on linen