My how time flies when you’re having fun. Right? I remember when I was a kid that time seemed to stand still. It took for ever for my birthday or Christmas to roll around, not to mention summer vacation from school, the 4th of July, Halloween or any other holiday of note. Now a days? The same landmarks on the calendar seem to flash by faster than I can keep up with. I’ll admit however that it does feel like it takes forever for football season to get started. How about those Broncos huh? Nice to see them get back on track.

Back to the point at hand…how time flies. You do realize that Halloween is just a week or so away. My least favorite holiday. I only even mention it because Thanksgiving follows less than a month later.Then Christmas and New Years close on the heels, which brings us right into 2017, when 2016 seemed to rush by in a blur. I need this all to slow down a tad so I can savor the days a bit more. They say that time flies by when you’re having fun. That was sure the case when I was a kid. I must be having the time of my life…which when I think about it, I am. Maybe I just never grew up, which is OK I guess. I think being a responsible adult is over rated and not near as much fun anyway.

I am looking forward to the fall and winter season however. After my show in Zion National Park, the schedule dies down some.

It’s the off season for plain air painting events which will give me some opportunity to catch up on studio paintings this winter.The 90 day winter forecast says it’s supposed to be warmer than usual so maybe I can still get some camping in. When I was over in Moab a couple weeks ago, I got down into Canyon Lands and discovered that winter may be the best time to visit and camp there. I probably shouldn’t have made that public. Keep it to yourselves please.

When I look at my fall and winter schedule it doesn’t seem any less hectic however. I’ll be teaching some painting classes through the Precedence Art Academy. I met with Candice Carls the other day and she’s turning the old Adams Vac space into an art school. It’s right next door to her music school, all on the street level below Yvonne Meeks’ Lark and Sparrow. The old Masonic temple building if you know that one.I’m 68 years old and someone asked me when I was going to think about retiring. I laughed and said that I didn’t have time for that. Retirement is for old people…right? I mean, what would I do? Take up painting for a hobby? I don’t have time to retire. I still have stuff to do. Friend Jim Cook and I are looking at maybe floating the Noatak River in Alaska next summer. That’s above the Arctic Circle on the other side of the Brooks Range. I’ll keep you posted on that one.

Speaking of Moab, I apologize for leaving you good folks hanging since my last post, which was from over in Moab a couple of weeks ago. I generally try to follow up a little quicker this. I wasn’t able to do much in the way of posting photos because of the slow internet. I know, it seems to be norm doesn’t it. Problem is, I don’t do many events in areas with high speed internet. Zion may be different. We’ll have to see.

I got some great photo and some great painting done in Moab. It’s always a favorite place to go and paint. I love the red rock geography. Of course, Canyon Lands is right there also. I’m getting a new appreciation for that national park, to include Dead Horse Point State Park, and one has to mention Arches National Park. Unfortunately I didn’t make it into Arches this time. It was solely because of the crowds. It was a zoo in Moab anyway and the line waiting to get into the park was very long. Last place I want to be.

Here’s a shot from Canyonlands National Park overlooking the Green River.

Wild desolate country as far as the eye can see. Beautiful and a real challenge to paint.

Here are a couple of paintings I did.

This one is a watercolor along the Potash road across the Colorado River, for those of you who know where that is. Love those red rock cliffs. There were rock climbers on the walls right behind me as I painted this.

This is an oil I did one morning right off of the highway. The traffic noise was ridiculous but the view was spectacular.

And even a remote selfie that morning.

 It was fairly brisk with a breeze blowing to boot so the sun sure felt good.

Lastly, they had a quick draw competition in town. We had three hours to complete a painting with-in a several block radius. I chose to set up and paint a couple of the shops in the alley. Turned out I wasn’t alone as there were 4 other artists who showed up. Interesting how we all came up with a different take on the same alley but I guess, that’s the artist’s eye. Everybody sees it differently.

Next week I’m off again. First to Santa Fe, NM for a show opening with the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico of which I am a member at the Sorrel Sky Gallery in Santa Fe. I have two oils that were selected to be in the show.

Then I’m off to Zion from there. Depending on what I have for internet speeds, I’ll update you from there.

Thanks for following along and I hope to make it worth your while.

Let me know how I’m doing.