Free Spirit

Often while the kids are rock climbing I stay on ground and paint. I have painted there for over 20 years. This was a moment I caught with my camera and it just beckoned to be painted. I used a combination of my plein air studies, my photos as well as painted from memory to execute "Free Spirit”.

Olivia is a rock climber. She grew up as the youngest of 3 children all of which are extreme outdoor enthusiasts. Olivia grew up climbing the rock faces of Joshua Tree since she was able to. So now she thinks nothing of bouldering to the highest peak to get the best view and feel the wind in her hair! My concept for this painting was to get the felling of the height to which she climbed here and the long drop off down along the rock face along with the atmospheric perspective of the desert beyond the rock cropping. The glowing light and the red/orange glow is indicative to the Joshua Tree rocks and I was interested in capturing the with the glow of the desert sun upon the rocks and the figure.