Will
Sillin
Let's Hike Angels Landing, oil on paper, 4" x 5.5", 2021
The first plein air sketch of my 2021 Artist in Residence done from the
trailhead at the Grotto. Private collection (Massachusetts)
Loser's Bay, oil on paper, 5" x 7", 2022
A view of the cliffs in Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park from a small bight on Last Chance Bay where we beached our boat in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Private collection (Florida)
The Big Bend of Zion, oil on paper, 5.5" x 7", 2021 A plein air sketch in Zion's Scenic Valley. California Condors have made the red cliffs here their home.
Zion: Space and Time. oil on paper, 8" x 12", 2022 The summer night sky and Milky Way reveals the towers of Zion's scenic valley. Private collection (Massachusetts)
Spirits of the West Rim, oil on canvas, 18" x 34", 2022. The title refers to the American Indian philosophy that everything in nature, not just the coyotes and eagles, has a spirit. The smallest mote of dust is animated with spirit. With patience and close observation we might sense those spirits and their stories and thereby acquire some of their wisdom.
The subject is a view of Zion, not from a well known destination like Angels Landing or Observation Point but instead from a break in the forest and thicket along the south side of the West Rim Trail. This painting was donated to Zion National Park in fulfillment of my 2021 Artist in Residence. Public collection (Utah)
View From Skyline Rim, oil on paper, 5.5" x 8", 2020
Many dirt roads that cross featureless plains in the desert will eventually end with a view like this. Somewhere down there in the orange and blue below the horizon the Mars Society prepares for their next move.
Angels' Landing, oil oin paper, 4" x6", 2020
A similar view to "Where Angels Tread" above right. Yes there is a trail with chains to grasp that leads to the top of that 1500 ft high knife edge monolith.
Bowknot Bend, oil on paper, 5.5" x 8.5", 2021
The Green River loops through its deeply incised figure 8 meander north of Canyonlands National Park. This passage shows the river going away in the left foreground and coming back at us several miles later in a view made possible by the collapsed wall of the cliffl in the center. Private collection (Georgia)
Weeping Wall, oil on paper, 6.5" x 9", 2020
This stupendous cliff face greets visitors driving in from the east side of Zion on Rt.9 as they emerge from a long tunnel.
I cannot express how grateful I am for the opportunity to have served as an Artist In Residence at Zion National Park in 2021. The paintings on this page are the product of a trip to Utah in 2020 in lieu of the postponed residency and 2021/22 paintings resulting from thye residency. A thank you as wide as the vistas depicted below to the fine people at Zion National Park and the National Park Service for making the Artist in Residence program a possibility. Artists take note, the National Park AIR program is not just for landscape painters. They are looking for writers, performing artists, musicians and absract visual artists as well.
Allstrom Point Light Bath, oil on paper, 5" x 7", 2021
Lake Powell, Gunsight Butte and Navajo Mountain as seen from cilffs of Allstrom Point. Private collection (Massachusetts)
Where Angels Tread, oil on paper, 7.5" x 10", 2021
Angels Landing, The Great White Throne and the floor of Zion Canyon far below. A similar view to Angel's Landing below. Both of these paintings are of the afternoon light. One has to hike up very early to capture the light as Maynard Dixon did when he stood nearby to paint "High in the Morning".