Four Peaks #3113 by Candy Barr

 9 x 12 inches Oil on canvas SOLD

Posting this instead of the plein air event I went to today.  I'll try to complete it tomorrow and post the stages it went through.  

4 Amigos #22513 by Candy Barr

12 x 12 inches Oil on canvas

Pinnacle Peak with Saguaro #2613 by Candy Barr

 11 x 14 inches Oil on canvas

Pretty dark still at set up 8am, here's process 9am...with some light hitting the mountain,
Pinnacle Peak.


The sage are abundant with the occasional cholla, saguaro and palo verde in the back.  Behind the saguaro is an Ocitillo, used for natural fences, if one branch broken off and stuck into ground.  Farmers would not have to water it, and roots would take over and Voilà, you had a living fence.

The Ocotillo is pollinated by hummingbirds that like the honey nectar it produces. They feed on the flowers during their travel north from Mexico to the mountains of the Western US.

The Ocotillo is very plentiful and not endangered because it's the only Fonquieria to be cultivated. The plant is easily grown from seed and cuttings and sold as nursery stock. The shrub is often use as "fencing" because its spines stop people and animals from passing through. The Ocotillo can be planted at anytime of the year.

The Ocotillo is a desert success story. It is a plant that has adapted to its environment, and it is useful to both animals and mankind.

Here's the trail map the City of Scottsdale AZ puts out to hike the trail up.

Desert Wash Morning

12 x 12 inches Oil Desert Wash Morning

~~Happy New Year~~

Saguaro and Sage Brush

6 x 6 inches Oil on hardboard

$99. + S/H

Detail of thick paint

Table Mesa

16 x 20 inches Oil on canvas

Raining day but just set up the umbrella in this lovely spot. A week earlier the water was side to side in this vista and behind me the road was destroyed with piles of rocks carried down in the last high water. Evidently a ditched old pick up truck is no longer there... somewhere further down the river!

Saguaro with Four Peaks

8 x 10 inches Oil on canvas board

A little plein air going on after sunrise. It started out pretty dark and 48 degrees but no wind.
never really took off any clothing layers, as it was overcast most of the morning.
Outrageously peaceful and wonderful to be in Tonto State Park with the only concern being what am trying to convey in my painting? After coming home, it occurs to me after it dries, that I might clean up a saguaro or two, as the wet on wet can get tricky. I can see how a studio version of this would allow me to glaze on the sky and feather the colors more before adding the foreground...perhaps this would have some merit.
At times I felt as if I were channeling Marsden Hartley ...apologizes to MH fans. It does wing you up through the process spontaneously.

Sage Heat & Art Collector: December Ad

18 x 24 inches Oil on canvas



This is rework of an older painting

The Art Collector magazine can be purchased from bookstores periodical section and good way to see artists putting their work out there independently or through galleries.