Road to Moab

Road to Moab, oil on gessobord, 8x6"

I have put painting on hold for a couple of weeks, much to my chagrin, due to life's many circumstances. Today...free time!!! It has been fun going through all my photos of my recent 2 week "Department of the Interior" trip.  I was struggling with the way some of the photos turned out because I couldn't see a painting there. A few days ago, I was listening to a great radio show podcast called "Artist Helping Artist". The episodes are archived and when browsing, found one of my favorite contemporary painters, Karin Jurick, who lives in Atlanta. Karin did not study art in an academic way and has had an interesting path to where she is today - selling almost everything she paints. When asked about painting from photos her reply was, "I don't paint what's in the photo, I paint an interpretation of a scene that I photographed." In other words, it is simply a reference and the rest is up to you. I loved this and it struck a cord as I was struggling to find a handful of photos to paint. Road to Moab is painted from a photo that almost wasn't. The road was so twisty, that every other turn provided a spectacular view. I was erasing as many photos as the number I kept.  This photo had it all, foreground, middle and enough distance to satisfy me. And of course the twisty road....always one of my favorite subjects.

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/celia-kelly/road-to-moab/408044