Grand View Burn Opus 1

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Recently, we have been preparing The Grand View Ranch for upcoming workshops in April, May, and June, and have spent many days clearing dead trees and fallen limbs left by the winter storms. Because the property is cluttered with 70 years of growth, we are clearing it branch by branch, and this takes many days of hauling and burning. One of my favorite activities is “The Burn.” We drag 40 to 60 lbs of tree trunks over an acre of land to a burn pile, and then, we hoist them onto the burning flame. Grand View Burn Opus 1 is one of a series that captures this activity.

When painting fire or anything that would be an eye-catching subject, it is important to make good color choices. A painting is most effective when the color relationships and transitions are well synchronized so they themselves express the idea of the picture. Good color does not mean prettiness, or color that is dashed upon a canvas. It is color that is intentionally used to make a powerful statement; and to use color powerfully means to reserve for it for the punch or climax of its full force on the central focal point. An exercise for seeing if there are good color relationships and transitions is to turn the painting up side down to view the painting as an abstract, and see if anything stands out as being out of place.

Blog readers have asked about my goals for The Grand View Ranch. It is my dream to create an idyllic artist retreat, where artists can participate in location painting workshops that nurture the artist in a place of unparalleled beauty and inspiration. I am interested in offering an experience that reflects the philosophy of one of my mentors, John Ruskin, author of “Modern painters.” Ruskin rejected the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution, similar to what we are going through right now, with mass produced imports from other countries, and very few items made with the artist’s hands, mind, and heart. I hope to work with other similar thinking artists to make a difference, and to provide a location for human connection and artistic expression to grow. This type of project takes a battalion of helpful colleagues to make it work, and many artists have contributed to this dream. I thank them with all my heart.

I hope that we can build a community of artists that can share information with each other.

If you know of any artists that might appreciate being included, let them know about this blog.

I hope to offer more painting tips as this conversation continues.

If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime. I welcome your feedback. Stefan_Baumann@yahoo.com