Painting of the Day, January 20, 2012

By Donna Poulton

After his studies at the California School of Design and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Utah artist, James T. Harwood served as the chairman of the Department of Art at the University of Utah from 1923 -1931.

James T. Harwood (1860-1940), Richards Camp, Holiday Park, Weber Canyon, 1888, oil on canvas, 26 x 45 in. Credit: Springville Museum of Art“Richards' Camp, Holiday Park-Weber Canyon, is more autobiographical than any other Utah painting from [Harwood’s] pioneer period. The setting is the campground at Holiday Park that belonged to Harwood's soon-to-be in-laws. The camp activities were recorded on canvas by J. T. Harwood in July and signed on the 3rd of August 1888.”

Detail. Credit: Springville Museum of Art “The painting depicts a number of white tents nestled among tall pines in a forest clearing. Harriett's (Hattie's) father, Dr. Heber John Richards, is resting on a hammock, wearing a pith helmet and smoking a cigar. His wife and five daughters dot the scene. The mother and her two daughters are preparing food, while a son-in-law in fishing gear is on the left. Elsewhere, another daughter is reading a book, while the youngest daughter holds her doll. The most interesting aspect of the picture is the image of the artist holding an easel and paint kit, preparing to paint oil studies. He furtively peeks to his left at Hattie, who has filled a pail of water for the camp.” - Vern Swanson, Springville Museum of Art

Painting of the Day, January 16, 2012

By Donna Poulton

Kathryn Stats, Spider Rock (Canyon De Chelly), c. 2008, oil, 40 x 30 in. Credit: permission of Kathryn Stats and the Greenhouse Gallery Searching for the next landscape composition is, for Kathryn D. Stats, like hunting for treasure; she explains that “when a top crust of rock breaks off and falls down the slopes of softer eroded layers, it reminds me of crude jewels fallen from the crown to decorate the shoulders of softer layers below.”  Like her famous great uncle, artist LeConte Stewart, she rarely used the color green, preferring instead hues of grey, peach, violet and terra cotta, colors of the desert southwest. Her vigorous brushwork and strong chromatic contrasts amplify the dizzying height of the great canyon.

In Canyon De Chelly, she found eroded layers in 800 ft. Spider Rock. According to Navajo legend, Spider Woman sprang from the rock to give humans the knowledge to defend themselves. Legend also maintains the end of the world will happen at Spider Rock.

Painting of the Day, January 15, 2012

By Donna Poulton

“My watercolor process involves painting hundreds of abstract shapes, all with hard edges, 
within a representational framework. I paint layer over layer, floating pure color into clear washes, letting the colors blend visually on the paper. I then outline, with India ink, every shape I've just painted. This unifies 
the painting, makes it clean, and creates the effect of looking upon the scene in high-definition, 
as if you could see everything perfectly.” — Jonathan Frank

Frank’s painting titled From the Beginning is in the newly released book, Art Journey America Landscapes: 89 Painters 

Jonathan Frank, From the Beginning, Watercolor, 21-1/2 x 25-1/2 in. Credit: Courtesy of Jonathan FrankJonathan Frank, Soaring, watercolor, 21-1/2 x 14-1/2 in. Credit: Courtesy of Jonathan Fran

Painting of the Day, January 14, 2012

By Donna Poulton

Credit: Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts A landscape artist who worked primarily on the East Coast, Maurice Freedman’s first trip west was in the 1930s when he travelled to Taos, New Mexico in his Model A Ford. After one such trip Maurice told his son that “…nature’s power gives me hope.”

On another trip Freedman and his wife, artist Louise Freedman, drove through Utah and stopped to paint Bryce Canyon. Freedman titled his Bryce painting, Navajo Kingdom. He told his son that “The rocks are Indian Castles—sentinels overseeing, guarding and protecting their land and people.” The painting's palate of reds, browns and even the blues seem warm and flat—washed out from the mid-day sun.  The spire tops suggest the battlements and parapets of medieval castles and the heat reflects red in the clouds overhead.  The guile of the saturated landscape, devoid of tones, shades and values is exposed with Freedman’s minimal treatment of the spires and the flattened mid-day colors.

Painting of the Day, January 13, 2012

By Donna L. Poulton

“There is no way to know if something you have done will outlast you. Time tends to sort out which pieces were really important and which ones were the thrill of the moment.” - P.A. Nisbet

In a 1994 interview with Jessie Benton Evans, Peter A. Nisbet said, “I paint landscapes and skyscapes, 'atmospherics,' almost vapor paintings, which express my personal mythology that nature is mysterious and miraculous. A fellow artist and I have chased storms all over the Southwest and Mexico.”

Peter A. Nisbet (b. 1948- ), Colossus, 2007, 48 x 36 in. Courtesy of P. A. Nisbet Nisbet’s painting is on the cover of the newly released book, Art Journey America Landscapes: 89 Painters