Red Rock Wash by Kathy Haycock
Wild Women, Painters of the Wilderness are a well-established trio of professional award-winning artists living and painting in the Madawaska Valley. Joyce Burkholder, Kathy Haycock and Linda Sorensen (pictured below L-R) each operate a studio/gallery in the area and participate yearly in the Madawaska Valley Studio Tour.
Wild Women painting on location in Arizona (Photo submitted)
High Country Pine by Kathy Haycock
Burkholder provides this special report to The Current
This winter in February, we met in Arizona to paint the Red Rocks of Sedona and the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix. The three of us frequently paint plein air in the wilds around the Madawaska Valley and Algonquin Park … so it was no stretch to want to paint in the mountains of the Southwest. It just took some careful logistics to land in Arizona on the same day, coming from three different directions, loaded with everything we needed for a week of painting on location. It was so much fun – completely exciting and inspiring.
Sedona by Joyce Burkholder
We loaded up our jeep and headed north to Sedona. This area is world-renowned for its massive red rock mountains rising hundreds of feet from desert terrain. At sunrise and sunset the rocks turn a flaming orange-red … a painter’s dream of shapes, colours, textures, highlights and shadows.
Desert Monolith by Linda Sorensen
After three full days of painting we headed back towards Phoenix to the Superstition Mountains. There we experienced a very different terrain and equally as awe-inspiring as Sedona. Long gentle gravel slopes led our eyes to layer upon layer of mountains jutting proudly from a flat desert floor covered with a myriad of cactus in all different shapes, sizes and shades of green. Lovely pale cool greens and warm bright greens. Short haloed chollas and massive tall saguaros. An absolute delight for composing paintings with verticals, angles and curves, and so different from home.
Cactusland by Linda Sorensen
We painted with oils on fairly small panels, 6×6 to 11×14 … very easy to transport and brought them back almost dry. Some needed finishing, some did not.
Towering Red Rocks by Joyce Burkholder
Click on the LINKS BELOW to see the paintings and photos of our journey and many other paintings.
On Facebook: Wild Women Painters of the Wilderness
Kathy Haycock’s website: kmhaycock.com
Fabulous article, fabulous paintings, fabulous women! Thank’s for sharing with us, Joyce!
Wonderful works of art! I’ve been to Sedona several times, my sister lived in Flagstaff! Magical area!