Colorado Plateau IV Series

These most recent abstract oil paintings represent a new development in the Colorado Plateau Series. This series concept has been evolving for over a decade. The idea is to capture the light and space of the Colorado plateau with the most minimal emphasis on specific location as possible. (The location of the Colorado Plateau is the most specific I want them to be). I want these paintings to be compositionally sound, but also remain open and universal to the viewer.

This series began with pastel sketches while I was studying at Utah State and later stepped up in size to 18x24 acrylics for my senior show at Southern Oregon University in 2005. I did a show at the Best Friends Village artspace and one at the Kanab Healing Arts Gallery trying the idea in watercolor. The watercolors were later translated to oil through a number of different approaches and most recently the concept has landed in this form.
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These paintings are small 8x8 in. frameless paintings on board with heavy patches of oil paint illustrating the light and space of the landscape of the colorado Plateau. This recent series is quite abstract up close, but not so much from a slight distance. I'm really liking this balance of representation and abstraction and I'm excited to do a few more before deciding where to go next or to keep doing them. These are available at Raven Heart Gallery in Kanab, Utah.