Carol Benally - A Painting Life on the Navajo Reservation

Last fall I did a plein air of Joe on Isleta, his oldest but favorite horse.  I seemed to capture something as Joe’s head was turned and he was looking at something.   The sun was setting and the orange glow was incredible.  I took lots of pictures, so together with the pictures and the plein air sketch, I did this painting today.  Today was the fourth day of painting straight because the snow and mud was so deep, that my car did not move.  So I put being stranded to use and painted like crazy.

The next day at Zion National Park, it was overcast, but I managed to paint, this time in the sunlight, not the shadow.  This painting was done in 45 min.  It was windy.  I saw so many places to paint and I could have stayed there all week. 

January 1 was a very cold day for travel and painting to Zion National Park.  It was a challenge, but fun afterall.  Zion is beautiful in the winter and was well worth the 4 hour trip. 

Sometimes I try new painting ideas for galleries.  The triple painting is a contemporary format for a traditional theme.  This mountain in the Phoenix area can have an evening glow.  My aim for this painting was to have a harmony in the color scheme and have a peaceful evening color. 

October 25, 2007

I was driving through the Southern part of the Reservation during the last 10 min of the sun setting.  I just had to try it.  The setting sun made the colors more orange than usual.  This is a plein air oil on a 6X10 canvas.  Maybe I should have called This Twin Buttes. 

This painting “Forsythia in Bloom”  was painted in Santa Fe this spring.  It is now at Huey’s Fine Art.