SUZY HOLT

Suzy Holt: New Works from a Desert Sojourn

For two weeks in February, north of Tucson in the Sonoran desert, I struggled to get my head around its diverse, complex and bizarre flora. I really managed only to capture shadows and silhouettes.

Returning to Helena, I was compelled to turn around and drive right back for a self-imposed "artist residency". This time I would sit more quietly, without distraction, to paint. I took a dozen canvases, expecting to fill them all.>

Not so. Instead, I drew. Acknowledging that drawing is central to really seeing anything, I disciplined myself to daily observation and practice.

My friend's camper trailer sat in the desert on property bordered by state park. All manner of unlikely growth surrounded me - huge prickly pear, ocotillo, cholla, yucca, saguaro, and barrel cactus. Some were beginning to take on color and bloom. I drew for three weeks.

Before returning to Helena I shot a resource collection of photos to use as reference at home. I then spent all of April and May in my studio painting the works exhibited here. The drawing exercise obviously enhanced my ability to capture literally the forms, light and even color of that landscape.

In another series, or in another sojourn, I may take this imagery further into an abstracted or expressive interpretation of the desert experience. "Apache Mountain", "Cholla in Snow", and "Desert Scrub" start to do that. Those particular landscapes seemed to me to require the differing treatments.

If your feet have not yet trod the lower Sonoran desert, let them take you there soon. It is an astoundingly lush environment full of curiosity and delight.

IMAGES TO COME ...