Report: August Plein Air Painting Retreat

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*Never AI, always human. Any errors are my own.*

Here's my post-retreat report on last week's #pleinairpainting #paintingretreat ! https://mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/report-august-plein-air-painting

Return to the Sedona Plein Air Festival

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I'm heading back to the Sedona Plein Air Festival this October as invited artist!  Details here: https://mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/return-to-the-sedona-plein-air-festival

What's a Painting Retreat?

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What's a painting retreat? Find out here!

Sedona Retreat Report!

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Just got back from my annual Sedona painting retreat for experienced plein air painters.  Here's a report over on my Substack.

Retreat Report: 2024 Downeast/Maritimes Plein Air Painting Retreat

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Read my report on my latest painting retreat here - https://mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/retreat-report-2024-downeastmaritimes

Upcoming Painting Retreat in Sedona, Arizona!

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Join me in this exclusive, limited painting retreat!  Details on my Substack.

Painting Retreat Report: Hiking to Sketch in Sedona

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Just got back from an awesome painting retreat in Sedona, Arizona.  Read all about it on my Substack, here.

Painting Retreat Report: Pagosa Springs, Colorado

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North of Town, 8x10, oil - available

Colorado is famous—and rightly so—for its spectacular fall foliage.  Last week, our group of plein air painters, hailing from Ohio, Oregon and Connecticut, experienced this first-hand at the Bruce Spruce Ranch at the foot of the San Juan Mountains.  Locals told us the color was a week or so late, but we couldn't have picked a more beautiful week.

The day before the retreat began, we had a solid day of rain.  But fortunately, our party was able to hunker down in the rustic  cabins with wood stoves fired up, keeping us dry and warm.  When the rain cleared the next morning, our first day of the retreat, we could see snow carpeting the higher peaks.  Despite the weather turning fine after this, mornings proved cold throughout the week.  The wood stoves ended up playing a vital role in our daily routine, and I got pretty good at getting a fire started.  However, my wood-splitting skills didn't improve much.  Although you could buy bundles of firewood, I foolishly chose to split my own for free; it wasn't long before I was enjoying the generosity of the spouse of one of our painters, who seemed to like splitting more wood than he needed.

A couple of mornings, to avoid having to wait for the day to warm up at the Ranch, we headed down the hill to Pagosa Springs, about 10 miles south.  We found several spots along the San Juan River, which runs through town, that gave us views of colorful cottonwoods.  Other days, we painted around the Ranch.  Established in the 1930s as a guest ranch just below Wolf Creek Pass, it is surrounded by fishing ponds, cottonwoods and broad vistas.  You didn't have to walk far for a stunning vista or an intimate view of a creek.  Another day, we headed up to Wolf Creek Pass, which tops out at a literally breath-taking 10,856 feet, and on to the historic mining town of Creede.  (The snow was gone by then.)  We painted there, but we also visited my friend, Stephen Quiller, which I think was a highlight for many of us.

Stephen Quiller is probably the best-known, all-round watermedia artist in the country.  He works in any medium that uses water:  acrylic, casein, gouache and watercolor.  I think he is personally responsible for re-introducing artists to casein and gouache, and he also designed a very helpful system for painters of any medium, the Quiller Color Palette.  (Did I mention he is also one of the artists I include in my book, Beautiful Landscape Painting Outdoors: Mastering Plein Air?)  He's also very personable and eager to help painters.  Although his gallery had closed for the season, he offered to come into town to open it for us and to chat with us.  During the gallery tour, I learned a surprising thing—he also creates beautiful etchings.  A committed plein air painter, he likes to stay out of the woods in November because of hunters, and he uses that time to make etchings.

After the retreat, on the way home, Trina and I stopped in Abiquiu—famous for Ghost Ranch and Georgia O'Keeffe—where the annual studio tour was happening, and then spent two days in Santa Fe, visiting museums and galleries.  All in all, it was a fabulous time, and we're eager to host another retreat soon.

If you're interested in my painting retreats, make sure you sign up for my newsletter, and you'll hear about them first.  Right now, my Maine retreat (August 5-9, 2024) is full, but I've started a waiting list.  You can find out more about my retreats here. 

By the way, I still have room in my one-day, studio-only workshop at Art Fest in Mesa, Arizona, this month.  My workshop is on October 26th, and in it, we'll take plein air references (such as I gathered on this retreat in Colorado) and learn how to create finished studio paintings from them.  You can get $20 off if you use the coupon code SAVEONMF.  You can learn more and sign up here.   

Until next time, here are some more paintings and photos from the trip!

Autumn Vista, 8x10 oil - available

Autumn Friends, 8x10 oil - available

Cloud Shadows, 8x10 oil - available

Our rustic cabin

Snow on the peak

The San Juan River

More on the San Juan River

And Yet Even More on the San Juan River

Caught by the Beauty of theTrees

Critique Time

Around the Ranch

More Around the Ranch

Aspens in Creede

Visiting Stephen Quiller

Oh, Yes, I Painted in Gouache, Too

Aspens on the Ridge

Cottonwood Fiesta

Fall Doesn't Get Any Better

Coal Creek, 5x16 Gouache Sketch

Along the San Juan, 5x8 Gouache Sketch

Color at Fawn Gulch, 5x8 Gouache Sketch

Santa Fe Arroyo, 5x8 Gouache Sketch
(sorry, I decided to sneak in a Santa Fe piece)

Retreat Report: Sedona, Arizona

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"Autumn Among the Rocks" 9x12 Pastel / Available
Painted on Multimedia Artboard

(I know I'm a bit late with this report, since the plein air painting retreat in Sedona was a few weeks ago in early November.)

Just prior to the retreat, I gave a well-received demonstration to Arizona Plein Air Painters in Phoenix.  Because we don't get to that city much, we rented a place for a couple of nights so we could refresh our memory of the area, in Scottsdale.  Scottsdale has a small-town feel with galleries and shops, and you would not know you were in a metropolitan area of five million people except for the blazing 300 Mbps internet speed at the house.  (I'm lucky if I can get 10 Mbps here in rural New Mexico—even so, I don't dream of moving to the city!)

Demonstrating for Arizona Plein Air Painters

After the demonstration, we wandered up the interstate to Sedona, where we stayed with our good friends, the Colemans. I've mentioned M.L. Coleman before, as we are "painter pals" and have taken several painting trips in his LazyDays RV. We spent the weekend hiking and locating some new, exciting painting spots for the retreat attendees. I even got in a quick bold-brush sketch at one of my favorite locations.

Getting in a quick one before the retreat

30-minute "bold brush" sketch

The retreat began Monday morning.  On the very first day, I always like to show painters who are new to the area the most spectacular spots.  These places tend to be very popular, so parking can be a problem.  But we were early, so we found plenty of spaces at Courthouse Vista.  This offers "in-your-face" views of Bell Rock and Courthouse Rock.  Later, we ended up down by Oak Creek to paint the evening sun on Cathedral Rock.  This location is popular with photographers who aim to shoot award-winning photos at the "golden hour"—and I will say that the evening light there takes my breath away, every time.  Overall, it was a spectacular day of sunshine and pleasant weather.

"Near Courthouse" 9x12 oil / SOLD

Painting down by Oak Creek

I knew later in the week we were to expect rain.  So, on Tuesday, I thought it would be good to show everyone how I gather reference material in preparation for studio painting.  We headed up to Schnebly Hill—another popular hiking area—where I demonstrated my way of collecting photos, pencil drawings and color sketches.  Later in the day, the wind got up with a lot of dust, a sure sign a storm was coming.  I like to do critiques in the field where the lighting is good, but we were able to get critiques out of the way before the wind came.

Wednesday, the rain arrived as predicted.  Fortunately, I was able to rent studio space at the last minute, thanks to my friends at the Sedona Arts Center.  Although they don't normally rent space on the fly, I have taught workshops there and have participated for many years in their annual plein air festival, so they made an exception.  Good thing, too, because the rain came down hard most of the day.  The studio had everything we needed, including a coffeemaker.  I demonstrated the next phase of my "outdoor-study-to-studio" method, using the materials I'd gathered the day before.

Painting in the Studio

9x12 Color Study for Studio Painting

"View of the Mittens" 8x16 oil / Available
Studio painting based on above reference plus photos and drawings

Our last day was Thursday.  We ended on a high note with a beautiful weather day, the rain being long gone. To get away from Sedona traffic, we headed east of town, toward Beaver Creek and the Bell trail.  Unlike the area right around Sedona, this is what I would call a "calmer" landscape, with rolling hills and fields; not an intimidating rock face was to be seen.  We had some good fall color, too, especially along the creek, which the Bell trail follows.  We didn't have to hike far to get a good view.  Later, after critiques and lunch, some of us went back to Oak Creek to paint more of the scenery.  With the water, cottonwoods, rock ledges and mountain views, I would call that location a "rich" location—countless paintings are possible.

If you've been following my blog, you'll know I schedule only a couple of painting retreats each year, always in a special place.  I don't have a spring one scheduled yet, but I do have one for fall:  Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  Check out my workshop page on my website for details.

"Season in the Canyon" 9x12 Pastel / Available
Painted along the Bell Trail on Multimedia Artboard

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By the way!  Just a reminder about my book.  Beautiful Landscape Painting Outdoors: Mastering Plein Air is the perfect gift for your beginning painter friends -- and the advanced painter will enjoy it, too.  And hey, it would also make a nice gift for yourself! You can get it at Amazon.  (While you're waiting for your copy to arrive, you might like to watch the video interviews I made with several of the artists.)

And don't forget my May workshop at Bluebird Studios in Santa Fe.  Santa Fe is an awesome place to hold a plein air painting workshop -- great scenery, but also lots of extracurricular activities like galleries and museums!  Details here.

Last but not least, my 50% Studio Sale on Southwest paintings continues through December 24th.  Check out the artwork here.

Painting Retreat: Taos Report

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The Mountain
9x12 oil / Available

Situated on a sagebrush plateau between the Rio Grand Gorge, an 800-foot-deep knife-cut in the earth, and the base of New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo mountains, Taos is a little village with a big art history.  Way back in 1893, the first Anglo artist arrived.  Joseph Henry Sharp, from Cincinnati, came because he was interested in painting the already-vanishing American Indian.  He told his artist friends, and it wasn't long before they began to flock to Taos.  Soon they founded the Taos Society of Artists to market their work to folks back east.  Others followed, including Georgia O'Keeffe and socialite and art patron Mabel Dodge.  Coming to visit but not to stay were writers like D.H. Lawrence (even though he bought a ranch here) and photographers such as Ansel Adams.  Last week, my little group of painters added their names to the roll.

Five of us gathered in Taos to paint a variety of scenery:  ranch fields and aspen-clad mountains, historic adobe homes and towering cottonwoods, and streams running noisily from a long summer of rain.  The weather predicted for the week called for more rain, and that proved true.  But we found dry times to paint in, always keeping an eye on the clouds.  (The monsoon season, a period characterized by sudden and sometimes violent afternoon thunderstorms, has been plentiful this year.)  We even had a couple of truly sunny days.  Even so, the weather pattern gave us an abundance of clouds to paint.  This year, on the highest peaks, we were lucky enough to get a dusting of snow.  I've included a few of my paintings and sketches in this post.

Although I usually like to give critiques in the morning, this year it was cool enough that we delayed those until later in the day.  On the day when it rained most of the morning, I gave a demonstration under a comfortable porch.  Otherwise, we painted together each morning and most afternoons.  I always like to add cultural activities to my retreats, so we toured the Couse-Sharp Historic Site and the E. L. Blumenschein Home and Museum and also got our fill of galleries.

Overall, it was a great time, with old friendships being renewed and new friendships being forged.  If you're an experienced painter and are interested in a future retreat, please check my web site.

El Prado Pasture
9x12 Oil / Available

The Gorge
9x12 Oil / SOLD

The Pink House
(Where Georgia O'Keeffe stayed when first
visiting Taos)
9x12 Oil / SOLD

Me, selfie

First day crits

Joseph Sharp's paint box

Painting aspens at 9400 feet

Summer's Over – And About Next Summer: Part 2, The Retreat

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Shaun Painting at Low Tide

In my last post, I promised I'd write about the retreat.  Here's a little about it, plus some photos and paintings.

The retreat for experienced painters followed after the all-level workshop. Although my retreats don't include formal lectures, I offer plenty of opportunities to learn from each other, plus I give demonstrations and critiques.  (Click here to learn the difference between my workshops and retreats.) For this one, my twelve participants came from as far away as Colorado, Virginia and Quebec.  The weather this week was similar to the previous week, but with an addition of a half-day of rain.  During the rain day, I gave an oil demonstration on painting rocks and discussed some specifics on plein air gear and methods.  The week ended on a sunny note, and several participants said they couldn't wait for next year's retreat.  Me, too.

As much as it's sad to see my summer coming to an end, I'm looking forward to next year.  With that in mind, I've scheduled the following for Lubec, Maine:

• All-level plein air painting workshop:  July 31-August 3, 2023
• Painting retreat for experienced painters: August 7-11, 2023

Both weeks filled up very quickly when I announced them last year.  If you'd like to join me next year, I urge you to sign up soon.  Lodging can also be difficult to arrange if you wait too long because these weeks are “high season.”  And after this summer of record temperatures across the northern hemisphere, I imagine people will start booking for next year as soon as they can.  

I've also got two more retreats scheduled for this year, 2022.  I have space in both:

• October 2-7 / Taos, New Mexico
• November 7-10 / Sedona, Arizona
• I'm also considering one based in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for September or October 2023.  If I get enough interest, I'll pursue it.  If you're interested, let me know!

You can find all the details at my website.  Now, here are some photos and paintings!

9x12 pastel

9x12 oil

12x9 oil - this was a studio demo on our one rainy day

9x12 oil

5x8 gouache

5x8 gouache - low tide under some old fish buildings

5x8 gouache - more low tide

5x8 gouache

5x8 gouache

Rainy day demo

We had fog most mornings

Ann and Janet

Suzanne

One of my paintings on location

Charles

Mary

Late August means goldenrod

Erin and Liz

Suzanne, Shaun and Mary

Charles

Janet

Ann

Suzanne and Janet

Linda

My new friend, Ralph, who visited with us
while painting the old smokehouse complex.
Ralph worked in the canneries for 40 years until
they closed in 1991.  He insisted on having
his picture taken with me.