78.  Original Plein Air Watercolor Painting, "Plein Air, Snag in Picture Canyon, 10:30am-12:30pm, 5.19.24, Sunday”, watercolor, 30 x 42”, 2024

Location: Flagstaff, AZ

Event: ArtX Flagstaff

I learned from the forest-service husband of the Director of the ArtX festival that the reason for so many snags like this one is lightning strikes - the moment a tree grows taller than its companions it is an easy target for desert lightning, igniting and burning to death, but still standing for years as it decays and eventually falls. What intrigued me to paint was the extreme contrast between the deep blue sky and the white and dark glow and shadow of the trunk of the snag, although I knew that to paint this subject would be very, very difficult, especially as I make typically no drawing before going straight in with the paint. That day was hot and dry in Flagstaff, and the sky dried in areas, like a fresco made in sections, as I worked as fast as I could and discarded my attachment to having a “clean” looking sky of a uniform blue gradient. If not the exact picture of a snag, this is definitely the best I could do at the time, with my skillset then. When the challenge in the subject and execution is the highest, so is the learning the greatest.