Sedona | Grand Canyon | And One Random Desert Cactus
7 paintings. 6 Artists. 1 van. 3 paintings on the edge of the largest hole in the ground I've ever seen. 1 painting I can't find right now. And one tarantula placed on my brushroll while painting.
Doing something a little different here- I always share my new available work with you all before sharing it on social media, but not too often do I share with you a batch of paintings that are literally still wet as I write this. The reason for the urgency is that I’ll be showing the paintings from this recent trip through the American Southwest this afternoon in a popup show in Carlsbad, California (skip to the end of this email for details) and I wanted to be sure to give you all a first look.
Usually I post the new paintings on my site first and send links with all the info on there, but these are so fresh and I don’t have time to do all that now, so I’ll just share these paintings in their raw state (a few might need a bit more love) along with the early bird deals. Just reply to this email if any of these need to be yours. No rush or anything, but don’t wait, I never know how quickly they might disappear.
Ok on with the art.
Sedona
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Church
16” x 20” | $650 | Early-bird Deal: $500
It’s true. While painting this cathedral of rock, a live tarantula was placed on my roll of brushes. Never had that happen before. Friends are the best.
Just One Rock
20” x 10” | $600 | Early-bird Deal: $500
One of the joys of this trip was that one of the crew was a geologist. He had a lot to say, but most of it we didn’t understand. He did, however, explain to us that most piles of rocks we saw were really just one big rock, slowly weathering away at the cracks, giving the appearance of many rocks jumbled together. We thought that was great and we all caught on pretty quickly. Pretty soon it was all “just one cloud” and “just one tree” and “just one beer”. Geology is pretty fun.
The Grand Canyon
Out to Lunch
12” x 12” | $400 | Early-bird Deal: $300
While some of the crew went to get a very nice lunch. Wade Koniakowsky and I went to scope another painting. It was an overwhelming thing to look across this entire canyon and try to distill it into any sort of painting that would make sense. Not sure if this did the job or not, but it sure was fun to try.
The Distance to Forever
20” x 16” | $800 | Early-bird Deal: $700
Staring into the late afternoon sun, just before the whole landscape would shift gears into sunset, I could not believe the blueness of it all. I’ve never seen this effect so pronounced. It really was like looking into forever.
Down and Down Some More
10” x 20” | $950 | Early-bird Deal: $850
This was my first painting of the grand canyon (and also my favorite). Oh my. I’m pretty sure-footed but it was a wild feeling to stand on the edge of an expanse this vast. Also pretty overwhelming to look out and see ridge upon ridge upon ridge upon ridge. How do you paint all that? I could barely see straight, and I only tried to paint this tiny sliver. Trying to paint the whole thing in all of it’s minutiae would surely drive a painter over the edge of madness. And trust me, it’s a long, long way down.
And One Random Desert Cactus…
No Rush
12” x 12” | $350 | Early-bird Deal: $200
This was a quick one-hour speed painting done in the blazing desert where things seem to move much, much slower. We all wanted to paint one more, and so we did. And that’s all for now…
Pop Up Show Info
Today, October 12
2 - 6:30pm
1889 High Ridge Ave, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Thanks again, you all are the best. Hope to connect soon!
-Matt Beard