Call of the Desert – Pinyon Crest

“Call of the Desert” – 12 x 16 – oil on canvas
SOLD

This new painting – of an Inland Empire desert scene – will be one that I’ll display at the Redlands Centennial Plein Air show and sale this Saturday at the University of Redlands. It depicts a typical byway on the road to Idyllwild – up highway 74 – in a little community called Pinyon Crest. If you live in that area you know just the kind of terrain I’m talking about. Very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. The sale includes not only paintings of the University of Redlands and the city of Redlands but also scenes of the surrounding Inland Empire area – including San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

Last Saturday’s paintout was a great deal of fun. I got three paintings done that day – two 8 x 10 sized ones of campus buildings, and one small 5 x 7 painting, done feverishly at sunset – showing a long view of the quad with students lounging on the grass. Surprisingly, it was not windy on Saturday and the weather was in the low 80s, quite mild. There’s another paintout tomorrow but I don’t think I’ll be going – too much wind on the freeways bouncing around big 18 wheelers.