Arches National Park, Utah

Spent a great weekend in Arches National Park in Uah. The weather was beautiful with highs around 70 degrees and lows in the low 40's. Skies were a cobalt blue above and Edward Abbey red rock country below. Fantastic.

It has become  an annual tradition to go to Arches the last weekend of October. So far we haven't been let down with the weather, good times and a few good paintings. Over the years we have managed to take in most of the popular arches that are accessible without a back country permit. Although we didn't go to any arches this trip, the general red rock terrain was fantastic.

Several nice paintings will come from this. I tried to do a little plein air painting but found it difficult for some reason, probably because I was trying to do the painting with a new set of gouache colors which I have never used before. My limted experience with this new medium was evident and I gave up in disgust. I feel the medium is promising and I look forward to using it but I need to experiment with it some before I just step up to the challenge of plein air painting. I should have reverted to my trusty experience with watercolor but I had lost the enthusiasm. 

  

We had some exceptional Dutch Oven cooked meals. I think the biscuits and gravy with thick cut bacon and scrambled eggs were my favorite. Or it could have been the cinnamon rolls, eggs and bacon too. Or maybe the enchiladas  or the apple pecan pie. I don't know. It was all good. We'll be back. Looking forward to next year and some experience with my gouache paints.

Sunday Afternoon

Had the day off and thought we should go for a drive and find a painting to do. Turns out I had one to do right off of our front deck. These bird feeders have been begging to be painted for some time and to day was the day. I used a beautiful walnut painting box from Open Box M that I keep stored in a wonderful leather bag I got courstesy of my sisiter Mary. Quality stuff here and a fine afternoon.

It was a good day.

Red Fish Lake

If you look back a couple of posts you'll find where I went with my wife and another couple on an absolutely wonderful motorcycle ride up into the Sawtooth Recreational Area in Idaho this summer. As is always the case I'm on the lookout for material that will make a nice painting. Such was the case when we ventured down the road to checkout the Red Fish Lake Lodge. On the way we came across a turnout on the dirt road with this magnificent view. It had been raining off and on in the area for a couple of days but this particular morning everything was as still as could be. The mirror reflection of this portion of the Sawtooth Mountains in the water was so soothing and calming. We could have stayed there all day. Unfortunately our time was limited. We had places to go, people to see and things to do. Fortunately I think I captured the feeling quite nicely in this 16 x 32 oil painting I just finished. The painting is available from my gallery/studio, unframed for $500. If you are interested, contact me. Thanks for stopping by.

March First Friday Art Walk

It's approaching that time of month again. Each first Friday of the month we have an art stroll here in Montrose. It's a great opportunity for folks to get out and about and see what the local artists and artisens have been up to.

This Friday, from 6 to 8 I will be offerring this fullsheet framed watercolor and ALL other watercolors in the gallery at a 30% discount off of the retail pricing. Some great buys to be had if you are in the market for a Mike Simpson watercolor. For those of you who aren't in the neighborhood and/or not able to attend, check out my website at www.mikesimpsonart.com to see what else I have and you can search through the posting on this blog to see more. Please contact me if you have any interests or questions and I'll give you the scoop.

Spring Cleaning

I came across this 10x8 oilpainting I did of Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. It's a bit of a hike to get to the arch but well worth it. I find Arches N.P. and the surrounding area of Moab to be a great place for dramatic and colorful subject matter. This little painting goes to auction for a very reasonable starting price. If you are interested click here.

This is a little 6x8 oil painting I did of a scene in the Sonoran desert of Arizona. The low, early evening desert light makes for some wonderful pastel colors. Nice quality brush strokes enhance this little painting. It also is going to auction here.

...and finally I have this little 7x10 watercolor I painted en plein air (on location). There is a little red roofed gazebo in one of our town parks that is a very restful place to visit. I have painted at this spot many times. Often, the geese in the pond will come up and investigate what I'm doing, quacking their approval or disgust depending on their attitude at the time. This little watercolor will also be for sale here.
The starting prices for these little gems is very reasonable at only $9.99 so if you are interested, there is little excuse not to pick one up. Good luck on the bidding and I hope you get the one you want. Thanks for stopping by.

First Friday Art Walk

Had a successful First Friday Art Walk the other night selling a couple of paintings. It was nice to see the turnout. A little wine and cheese made for a nice evening. Always good to chat it up with the folks.

Been busy with gilding frames in 23 kt gold. Struggling a bit with some gesso and clay problems still. Might have to adjust the recipes and do some experimenting. It is so dry here in Western Colorado it makes it difficult at times with the corners cracking. Very frustrating.

Headed to California this week. Stopping in orange, CA to see my cousin Jim who is dying of cancer. They've called hospice in so he must be getting close to leaving this world. He's been like a brother so it'll be a bit difficult.

Then I'm off to Hollywood to see son Jim who is a film maker there. He's just opened a new studio so I'm looking forward to seeing him and his new facilities.

On Thursday I head over to Bakersfield, CA for a conclave. This is an invitational meeting of gilders that I am fortunate to have been asked to come. Should be some of the best in the nation there. Small group, maybe 30 in attendance. I missed it last year due to my Mother having a heart attack the day before I was to leave. So far so good. I will be anxious to meet up with some of the legends in gold leaf glass lettering.

I'll be ack in the shop on Wednesday, February 13.

I'll report as I go along. Thanks for stopping by.

Progress on the Bronc Fighter

I got some good progress done on the painting today. Most of the color is blocked in. I really like the character that is coming out in the cowboy's face. You should take a look. The video isn't very long. The color on the horse is a little dark but I can lighten it up as needed. This will be it until next week for this painting.

I'm off to Cameron Trading Post tomorrow. Cameron is on the western side of the Navajo reservation. We'll spend Friday night there and then Saturday we'll move on to Gallup, NM. On the way to Gallup, we'll stop at Winslow, AZ to checkout the La Posada Hotel, one of the few Harvey Houses left from the railroad days. While we are there, we are going to stand on that famous corner, in Winslow Arizona. What corner you ask? Come on. You remeber the Eagles song? OK, if you don't then you'll have to look it up.

In Gallup we are spending Satruday night at the El Ranch Hotel, famous for where the movies stars all stayed while filming the movies such as produced by John Ford in Monument Valley, AZ...John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, et al.

I hope to post some video from this trip on my HiThisIsMike Channel on Youtube. Stay turned

I'll be  in the shop on Monday and get back to this painting then.

The Bronc Fighter

Here are a couple of clips of video that I took relating to the development stages of a new painting I'm working on. As a result of yesterday's "thinking time" while I was waiting for the glue to dry, I came up with an idea for a new painting. See...it wasn't wasted time at all. I know that it appeared that I was daydreaming, when in actuality I was working.

This is the first video with an explaination of what I'm doing. Those that follow, continue the explaination. This video and the next two were actually made yesterday, 10/2/2012, for those of you who are going to keep track. Enjoy.

Here I start the sketch using the photo as reference for a start. As explained, there is a lot of analyzing and thought that begins at this point. It's easy to rubout and redraw, adjust and manipulate. That's the beauty of working in oil paint vs watercolor.

This video shows a little more progress in defining the image. I've started to darken portions of the sketch to help create some modeling effect and establish values. That's probably good for the time being. I'll take another good look at it in the morning.

I'll continue to post videos as they relate to the progress of this painting. Hope you enjoy it.Thanks for stopping by.

Catch of the Day

Here's proof that my fishing trips do yield material to paint. This is a watercolor I just finished. These two native Colorado Cut Throat trout were caught on the Big Cimarron River in the Cimarron Mountains in Colorado. They are easily identified by the bright redish orange slash near their gills. They made for a wonderful meal by the open camp fire. My wife Kathy has a phenomenal recipe for trout and it was perfect end to the day.

Makin' the Catch

A couple of posts back I posted this photo from the Will James Ranch Rodeo I was at a couple of weeks ago. I felt that this shot would make a great watercolor. I wanted to capture the feeling of the motion, the running of the horse and the heifer, and of course the lariat sailing through the air, rather that paint a static, frozen in time version as captured in the photo. The question I submitted was whether to paint it as is, "A Miss", as in the photo or to help the fella out a bit. Here's the result.

I figured the best way to get the feeling of motion was to blur things a bit and to make it a bit more sketchy. I think it'll do for starters.

With all of the shots I took I have a lot of material to work with so I'm just going to keep on trying. Below is another attempt. I think this one turned out better.

I'll keep posting them as I go and we'll see if they continue to improve.

Just A Miss

I finally got done processing all of my photos from the Will James Roundup I was at a couple of weeks ago in Hardin, MT. I took about 400 photos and have been busy converting them all to something useable, selecting the best, cropping, enlarging, etc. After making one initial pass through the results, I have 77 photos right off of the top I can use for reference for some great paintings, in both oil and watercolors. I also plan on doing a series of pen and ink sketches of many of these images.

The trick here is going to be to to capture the fluid motion and not just make an accurate illustration of the image. Drawing an accurate rendition of the image is easy. I want to create something that depicts the motion. That'll be the hard part. There are some great action shots and I really need to experiment with some technique to pull it off. I'm thinking kind of loose and sketchy with just a hint of detail.

I'll start with this one, titled, "Just a Miss". Because I'm only using the information presented to do the art, it would be very tempting to move the loop a bit so it is a "catch". We'll have to see what I decide to do.

The Will James Roundup

This is a promotional piece I just finished for some friends of mine in Montana. They are the promoters of the Will James Roundup, an old time rodeo, different from what is typically seen today in the professional rodeo ciruits.

The piece was all hand painted in the theme of the old wild west posters and banners. It took a lot of work but I am really happy about the way it turned out. At this point I am not sure what they will do with the image but if you would like a print of it you can contact me directly.
The painting is done in acrylic and measures 30x40. It will be framed  and is priced at $2500. Contact me if you have any interest or questions, or if you have an event you would like something like this done for.

Range Docs

Here's another in the cowboy series I seem to have gotten into lately. This is what I used to do before turning to a fulltime art career due to a back injury which ended my cowboy days.

This freshly painted 24x28 oil depicts what everyday cowboys do, in this case at the foot of the ruby Mountains in Northern Nevada.. With a roped yearling stretched out, one of the cowboys, the "ground man", takes care of whatever deed needed to be done to the critter. The mounted cowboy has the responsibility of keeping the rope to the rear legs tight. Looking closely, you can see the horse has his head tucked a bit as he is reined back a step to help keep the tension on the rope.

The cowboy on the ground has a lot to keep track of. He's got a lot of rope strung about him as you can see in this detail. Originally he would have roped the steer (or heifer) by the head while his team mate roped the heels (hence the sport of "team roping" in toady's rodeo). Once the critter is down, the ground man will step off of his horse and with his own weight and a strategically placed knee, hold the calf in position while he "doctors" on him or her. Prior to releasing the calf, the rope is removed from the head and placed around the front legs so that once the cowboy is mounted, the two riders can give the steer some slack. When the calf struggles and springs to his feet, the loops on the two ropes will open allowing the calf to step out of the rope and trot off.

The cowboy on the ground has his rope dallied around the horn on his saddle and with the remaining coils of rope in hand, he has the ability to keep tension on the rope as he dismounts. Additionally he has a "get down rope" tucked under his belt with the other end around the neck of his horse. If things should go amiss, as they sometimes do, he still has a "life line" to his horse since the reins are draped around the horses neck and generally out of reach.

As you can see and imagine, both cowboys and their horses need to be highly trained and skilled in their ability get their work done as gently and safely as possible.

Absolutely Ridiculous

I know there is a lot we could chat about that would fall under this topic but time and space won’t allow it…fortunately. Almost each and every day we encounter something to which a natural response might be, “What? That’s ridiculous!” The other title I considered for this week’s column was “Stupid, stupid, stupid”, which would’ve been just as appropriate.


Being an artist and an entrepreneur is somewhat of a difficulty in itself. In a pure sense, an artist will create art for the sake of art. When an artist chooses to make money from whatever talents he or she possesses then the picture (pun intended) changes, sometimes drastically. With a new season (summer) approaching us here on Main Street and the anticipated arrival of visitors (tourists) to our fair community I’ve been looking around the studio/gallery and trying to anticipate what it is that they, or you good folks for that matter, might be interested in buying.

If you’ve been in the gallery you know that I like to paint a lot of different subjects. Many are subjects that appeal to me and some are strictly “market driven” so to speak. It’s that “market driven” subject matter that brought me to a new series of paintings I’m doing. I make a number of note cards and prints of the paintings I do, and I was thinking of doing something new that might have a broad appeal. It’s been in the back of my mind for some time now and like many ideas I have, it got pushed to the back of my mind as I tackle life’s every day occurrences. Yesterday I decided that now is the time.

I’m starting a series of Colorado wildflower paintings. So far so good but the idea has proven to be more of a challenge that I thought it would be. My chosen medium for these delicate delights is watercolor. I’ve got all of the reference material I need so that’s not an issue.

The problem that I’m having is that I can’t seem to get the results I want and here is the point of this column. I tried five paintings and none of them worked. Frustrated, I lined the paintings up and stood back to have a look. They all looked the same. All five had the same problems. Then it dawned on me. I had repeatedly been making the same errors. I had continued to do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. How stupid is that? It is absolutely ridiculous to continue doing the same thing over and over and expect the effect to turn out different. That little insight can apply to many things. Lesson learned…finally.

What Now Boss?

This is a 24 x 48 oil painting I just finished. It depicts a cowboy and his dog making their rounds under the big Montana sky. The dog was trotting ahead of the cowboy on the trail they were following and came across the cow and her calf coming up the hill. The cow has her eye on the dog trying to determine if he is a threat or not, while the calf eyes the cowboy. The dog looks back at the cowboy hoping to get some instruction as to what he should do about this unexpected encounter.

This is a detail of the cow, calf and dog.
The painting is for sale at my studio for $2495 unframed.

Afternoon Shadows

Here is another 36x24 oil painting fresh off of the easel. A wonderful late afternoon on the Middle Fork of the Little Snake River in Northern Colorado. A nice effect of light with long shadows on the water. The transparency of the water in the shallows turned out well. You can see rocks etc. on the stream bed. This 36x24 painting sells unframed for $1200

Good Morning Utah

This is one of my favorite paintings. It has a wonderful classic look to it. It now belongs to a nice couple from Washington DC who just bought a place in Telluride. Thanks folks. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

New Work

Yes, I know. It's been awhile hasn't it? I've been working on some new oil paintings in a little larger format of 24 x 36 and 30 x 40. These are typically known as "Sofa Paintings" in that they are an ideal size to go behind the sofa. These paintings are on stretched canvas and are offered unframed and at a very reasonable price.

This is a scene from a favorite area of mine to paint, the East Dallas Road, which leads you right up close to the base of the Northern San Juan Mountains just below Mt. Sneffles, one of the Colorado "fourteeners". The fall colors in this area, and the surrounding mountainscapes typify what Colorado is all about. There is just an absolutely huge amount of material here. I have done a number of paintings on location here and taken a vast number of photographs to paint from. The fence on the right of the painting is known as a "worm" fence in that it is staggared in format, "worming" it's way along with out the need to dig post holes, thereby being self supporting. This  is an oil painting on a 24 x 36 inch stretched canvas and offered unframed for $1200.

This painting depicts a scene a little farther down the East Dallas Road closer to the base of Mt. Sneffles. Don't you just want to hike on down that road to see what is there? The view is from a wonderful picnic spot that my wife Kathy and I had all to ourselves. This is an oil painting done on a 40x30 vertical stretched canvas and is offered unframed for $1500.

Here is another scene from the same area. This painting depicts Mt. Sneffles with a fresh coat of snow in September. The long afternoon shadows lend a dramatic effect of light. This a 30x40 oil painting on stretched canvas and is offered unframed for $1500.

Any of the above paintings can be removed from the stretcher bars and rolled for easier shipping.

Two Extras

Here are two extra paintings I did while in Crested Butte for the show this past weekend.

The one just above is of a pond at the campground I stayed in. This pond was lined with these beautiful Cottonwood trees. The light and the reflections were too much to pass up. When I left the campground to go to the show Friday morning, I had to stop and do the painting. I'm glad I did as it turned out to be a good one. Unfortunately I had already turned in the paintings for the show and they were already hung.

The first painting pictured above, is of a scene between Crested Butte and Almont, that I did on the way home Sunday. Even though the show was over, the artist in me wouldn't let me pass up the opportunity to do this painting. It is the road to "Jake's Cabin" which climbs throught the pass and down to the Taylor River on the otherside. Again it was the light on this scene that prompted me to stop and do the painting.

Stopping to do the painting of "The Road to Jake's Cabin" reminded me of a time that son Ted and I were going to go to Canada several years ago to paint and fish. We had two weeks. The idea was to paint and fish our way to Calgary, Alberta where I had a friend who had invited us up there to fish the Bow River. Ted would do the fishing and I would do the painting...and maybe do a little fishing too. At the end of ten days, we hadn't even gotten out of the state of Colorado, so we had to call the trip off. Ted said that next time I couldn't do any painting until we got to Canada, which was the case the following year. That time it worked out better.

So is the risk if I stop to paint everything I see no matter when or where I am going I might get anywhere. I would love to have the time to do that, just wandering around stopping to paint the picture and then move on to the next one, maybe stopping to fish a bit too. It's a good thing I got home Sunday, even though a bit later than I had told Kathy I be there. It is a wonder that I get anywhere, when I'm supposed to, when I have a painting kit with me.

Although these paintings weren't in the show I have framed them and they are available at my sudio/gallery. They are both 9x12 watercolors and are framed with linen mats, fillets and Museum glass and for sale for $600 each. I can send you a photo of them framed if you are interested.

Crested Butte Plein Air Art Show

This is one of 9 paintings I've done in watercolor in the Crested Butte, Colorado area for the Crested Butte Plein Air Show which opens the 15th of July. You can find more information on my gallery page at www.facebook.com/simpsongallery. You DO NOT have to belong to facebook to access my gallery page. It is available to the general public.