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A couple of us Samapans  are attending a workshop at the Scottsdale Art School with Ray Roberts.....one of our favorite contemporary landscape painters.   The venue is ideal for taking art classes and the instructors are top notch.   We met Ned Mueller ( nedmueller.com  ) when he stopped by our studio after class and mentioned he was taking a class (he also teaches at SAS) which comprised of doing several  5 minute 16 x20 paintings (yikes !)  taught by Kim English  and he explained that it was a great way to get proficient at simplifying plein air compositions.   Another painter whose work I admire who teaches here as well  is Josh Clare( www.joshclare.com ) .  Josh joined the class an and worked on a beautiful atmospheric scene from a color study he did in the field the first day.

The studios are large, well lit and appointed and the staff were very friendly and accommodating.  They have a weekly gathering  with wine and appetizers in conjunction with the neighborhood Art Walk every Thursday afternoon and other member galleries belonging to the Scottsdale Gallery Association (SGA) open their doors to the public and show off the work of the Southwest’s outstanding artists.

The first morning of the workshop was spent in the studio and after lunch, we all met at a trailhead along the Salt River located about 30 minutes out of town.  This stunning area offers views of reddish mauve rock faced mountains, saguaro studded  plains with arroyos that lead into deep narrow canyons flanked with red rock cliffs and vegetated with palo verde, creosote and cholla .  If that isnt enough to inspire a painter, you have the  Salt River flowing thru it  reflecting the bluest of skies with a constant chatter of of birds.   Our assignment was to paint several small color studies and take lots of pictures of possible subjects  as well as references for foregrounds and plant material.  We returned to different location along the river the next day to do the same.  Our third and fourth days were spent  in the studio working on larger paintings using our color studies and photos.  Ray spent part of one morning telling us how he uses the computer and photoshop for his work which those of us who were non millennials found useful.  I found Ray to be very accessible as a teacher, humble, funny, direct with critique, offered valuable insights as to how I can improve and I would definitely recommend taking this workshop.