Tour in Upper Midwest

Just returned from an Upper Midwest Tour singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  What a great week and a half! 6 concerts in 5 states. We had some personal time between concerts, sound checks and bus rides to explore. I had time to do some quick watercolors.

Indianapolis War Memorials

Indianapolis Canal Walk

Schaumburg (outside Chicago)

Milwaukee (Hilton Lobby)

Minneapolis- Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden

Friends caught me painting during time off.

May sketches at Leucadia

Had another chance to go to Leucadia, California.  Here are two quick sketches focusing on the the relationship of architecture and trees.  The third is a section of succulent garden I've planted which imitates a coral reef.  It was started outdoors and finished in the studio.  Looser outdoors, then it got tighter in the studio.  That is the nature of taking a painting indoors.

A Spring Break near the beach

An escape from the snow and smog and I got to paint-out with an old college roommate, Ken Harris.
I stopped at the Cajon Pass on my way to CA for a few hours and found myself at "Mormon Rocks".

Ken (seen in silhouette) and I painted above Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA.

An overcast sky at the edge of the ocean gave a chance for a moody simple landscape at the Batiquitos Lagoon Trail, Carlsbad, CA.

Morro Bay, CA

An Autumn trip to the California coast gave me a chance to do a sketch at Morro Bay.

In post tourist season, things were very quiet.

7"x 9" on Handmade Indian Paper

Finished the "12 Gardens at Temple Square" Series

I finished the "12 Gardens At Temple Square"  Here are 3.  I painted them out of order since I didn't get one painted every month and filled in blanks over the past year and a half.  Originally I was painting gardens on and around Temple Square, then thought of Hokusai's "36 views of Mt. Fuji" and narrowed the parameters of my self assignment to include the central building of Temple Square in each painting.   I have plans to do various gardens now in the area without the inclusion of the temple.

San Luis Obispo and "June gloom" by the beach in Encinitas, California

College graduation and a family reunion gave me the opportunity to paint each morning for a week!

Outside sunny San Luis Obispo. 2 views from the same spot, first looking north, second looking south

June in the beach towns near San Diego is foggy "June Gloom",  I have often driven inland to get out of the fog, but decided this time to figure out how to paint the muted color and represent the effect of the fog.

The days in Encinitas were fog bound, but a thinner layer of beach fog at the La Costa Resort gave me a chance to get colorful in the gardens.

Painting the Red Rocks of Southern Utah again

On Memorial Day Weekend I had a chance to paint some quick watercolor sketches during rest breaks while canoeing on the Colorado River (11 miles) and hiking in Arches and Canyonlands (8 miles) National Parks! Amazing scenery and fantastic exercise.

Colorado River between Arches and Canyonlands

Open rangeland near Moab, Utah.  

Red Rock Towers on the Squaw Creek loop in Canyonlands

Cynthia, Debra, Me (Brad) and Alan at the boat launch in Moab

I'm told there's no fashion show on the trail.