Desert Dreams

From Lesley's sketchbook

My recent trip to California included time in Palm Springs. Though I had visited the area before, I had never spent time in the heart of the desert. I mean the real thing--this is the territory of sand, wind, rocks, cactus, and scorching sun. You might think that this sort of landscape would be impossibly bleak, but I found that it has its own startling beauty. Against such a stark backdrop, the smallest blossom is remarkable.

My husband and I stayed with relatives, using their little "casita" in the desert. It was a total immersion experience--seeing, hearing, and breathing the life of the desert. We were ringed
all around by distant mountain ranges. The mountains were majestic, and the shifting angles of the sun throughout the day created a constantly changing pattern of shadows. One distant mountain appeared to be snow-capped. I thought to myself that if I lived here, this could be my Mt. Saint Victoire! (Ignore the wind farm--or maybe it adds something??)

From Lesley's sketchbook

I didn't paint in the desert, but I did spend time drawing and sketching, and making color notes. I'm illustrating this post with a couple of pages from my sketchbooks. These sketches were done in pen and ink. In the top sketch especially, I was more concerned with capturing the gesture of the landscape than with depicting the scene with perfectly accuracy. 

Back home in the studio, I have been exploring these desert motifs. You can look below for the painting most recently on my easel. And stay tuned for more desertscapes...

"Desert Casita"
20 x 30, Oil on Canvas
(c) Lesley Powell, 2017