I have always enjoyed doing paintings of the early pioneer era of southern Utah. Especially fun is creating a painting where I bring to life a moment in history using research and my imagination. As tonight’s invited “Third Thursday” speaker at the St. George Art Museum I prepared a powerpoint showing how I create a historical painting from research to the painting process. Two of the featured paintings were the murals I created for the Washington County Library. Those involved an especially long research period followed by a unique painting method using oils, instead of my usual watercolors. After mounting belgian linen to a hardboard panel, I used the wall of my storage unit as an easel, nailing the panel in position, and painting vertically. Why the storage unit? My studio is too small to accomodate a 4 ft by 8 ft painting! Why oils? too big for watercolor paper. I showed slides of the painting process as the painting progressed from early sketches and planning through painting and completion. It was fun to look back on that project as well as other historical paintings, some of which are on display at the museum through May 25, 2012.
Roland Lee at work on his mural for the Washington County Library
