Spending the Week with Albert Handell

My painting of the gorge.

Albert painting on the High road.

Day 1, Monday:

This morning, we all caravaned to Arroyo Hondo off County Rd. B-005. We drove down to the John Dunn Bridge in the gorge by the Rio Grande. It was a beautiful day with an abundance of painting opportunities. The cliffs rose high above us-towering towards a aqua-blue sky. There were loads of buses filled with river-rafters, hikers, fishermen and artists. I drove across the bridge and painted from the other side looking back towards the road(back home we'd call it a lane). The painting that I started didn't turn out quite like I liked but I got some great sketches done and enjoyed watching how all the artists approached the location. It is always amazing to me that we can be in the same spot and all pick such different scenes to paint.

That afternoon, after lunch on our own, we met back up to paint on the high road going from Santa Fe to Taos on Hwy 68. The sun was in and out making wonderful atmospheric scenes. From a picnic area there you can see the gorge as it heads off towards the mountains. It was my first experience painting this kind of landscape. I'm posting Albert painting and also the finished painting that I did.