Monday, June 11, 2012

Painting with Thomas Moran

In our Western States plein air painting trip, direction was not always apparent.  This was the case with leaving Durango, Colorado.  We headed southwest and found ourselves at the Grand Canyon. This was not my choice as I had been there a few times and couldn't see myself painting there, but Anne Schreivogl had never been.

I found myself thinking about artist Thomas Moran.  I knew who he was and was familiar with his work but I knew little about his process or even what years he painted.  I presumed it was in the mid 1800s since that is when the lead tube was invented. In my mind, the single most contributing factor to the Impressionist and Plein Air movement was the lead tube. This helped make artists portable.

Now driving through the Grand Canyon National Park, I see a sign that says Moran Point.  ...hmmm? How long was he here?  Did he have a horse and pack mule?  How many point of views did he consider before choosing this one?  Wow!  Just the logistics of it all.

I'm driving my Toyoto Sienna pulling my T@B teardrop trailer and I see a sign that says "Moran Point".  You might as well say: "Paint here on the red X, dumbo."    ....okay, okay, it's 6pm and the sun sets at 8pm.  We've got time for a quick study of the GRAND CANYON... :-0

The result was we got to paint right next to Thomas Moran, Edgar Payne, and many others who stood right in this spot. It was exhilarating!


Now, enough red rock. Off to Yosemite!




Email: alfredcurrier (at) yahoo (dot) com

3 comments:

  1. You do look exhilarated. I hope you'll post your painting here, and maybe Anne's too? And, by the way, I love that cute little trailer. I'll bet it attracts a lot of attention.

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  2. Frisbees are hard to photograph! ;-)...

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  3. Love the picture of the T@B on the long and winding road. Hey, didn't they make song about that. Aloha from Glacier Bay.

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