Sagebrush, Junipers and Mountains

Sagebrush and Mountains oil pastel 11"x 14"


Once settled into life in the high desert, I started to join with up with other painters in outdoor sessions of landscape painting. As a group we would venture to various locales near where

we lived and spend the afternoon or day painting plein aire (that's means outdoors in English ). This began when I was offered to spend a week in a watercolor workshop painting the canyon and hills around the Rio Grande as it flows through the tiny town of Pilar.

Afterwards I continued painting outdoors, usually alone but sometimes with another painter.
Eventually, I ended up in Taos painting the local landscape with a painting class at the University of New Mexico. This class consisted of meeting at the school, then driving to a particular locale and spending the afternoon there. I took the same class several times as did many of the students.

One of the most popular painting locations was the rest stop located on Highway 68, just about eight miles south ot the town of Taos. From this spot there is a stunning view of the Rio Grande Gorge, the town of Taos and the snow-capped peaks of the Sangre de Christo

mountains. Over the few short years that I lived there, I have seen quite a few painters there, working intently on capturing the quiet beauty of the area. The above painting was done from that very spot, but it does not include the river gorge.