Moab Happenings Archive
Return to home

Cover Artist - November 2007

Moab Magic: Recent Oil Paintings by Carolyn Dailey

Former Moab resident Carolyn Dailey will be showing recent “plein air” oil paintings of the Moab area starting Saturday, November 10th at the Overlook Gallery. The show entitled “Moab Magic” opens as part of the November Art Walk with a reception from 6:00 - 9:00pm. The artist will be present at the opening and will be available to sign posters of the show. The show will run for one month. All paintings are original oils by the artist and will be for sale.

Overlook by Carolyn Dailey
Overlook

Carolyn Dailey’s name is well known among the Moab art community. She lived in Moab for 5 years from 1987 until 1992. Moab is very special to her because it was here in the glorious red rock canyon country that Carolyn learned to paint “plein air” landscapes - painting outdoors from life in the “full air.” Many of her paintings from that time still grace the homes of her friends in Moab today. Last year her “Moab Magic” show at the M.A.R.C. was almost a complete sell out.

She was also honored in August 2006 by the Grand County Public Library when they purchased two of her landscapes for their new building. The painting entitled “Colorado River” was painted along the river road near what used to be the White Ranch and “Dark Angel” was painted at Arches National Park looking towards the fins. Both paintings were from her personal collection of favorite paintings from the time that she lived here and now are on display in the library.

Loving art and winning art awards since her childhood growing up in Maryland and Pennsylvania, Carolyn came out west to college where she studied art while earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at the University of New Mexico and the University of Colorado. Carolyn continued to paint while working in a career of educational research and has been a professional painter since 1983. She began working as a full time artist in 1987 when she left her position in the administration at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado to move to Moab to paint full-time.


The Neck

Carolyn’s current painting technique was influenced by workshop study in 1989 and 1990 with nationally known painters Mark Daily, Michael Lynch, and Ned Jacobs at the Fechin Institute in Taos, NM. But her main mentor was New Mexican artist Frank La Lumia, recent author of “Plein Air Painting: Watercolors and Oils,” whom she met painting at Arches National Park in the winter of 1988. She remembers, “He stopped to talk to me while I was painting the Gossips. He and I and two hardy bicyclists were the only people in the whole park on that cold snowy day.” La Lumia helped her with outdoor painting in very practical ways by showing her the best painting materials and equipment to use as well as different painting techniques, but most of all he inspired intense dedication. He impressed her by saying that “very few artists are just naturally gifted - behind every successful artist there are miles of canvas.” So Carolyn became an accomplished “plein air” artist by doing at least one painting a day during her years living in the Moab area.

Since a “plein air” painting must be completed before the light and shadows completely change, Carolyn’s paintings are usually small in size ranging from 6” x 12” to 12” x 16”. Carolyn occasionally does larger studio pieces from photos, but these usually are of complex ceremonial and market scenes that are difficult to paint from life. Preferring to paint on Belgian Linen for its elegant surface, she also uses the finest quality of oil paints and displays her work in gold frames with linen liners. The paintings in her “Moab Magic II” show are outdoor “plein air” pieces completed in May and October of this year while the artist was visiting in the area.


Kane Creek

After leaving Moab Carolyn lived for 15 years in Panajachel on the mystical Lake Atitlan in Guatemala where she painted landscapes as well as the colorful Mayan people. Her work is represented by three of the finest galleries in Guatemala - the GALERIA DE ARTE in the old colonial city of Antigua, LA GALERIA in Panajachel and the CARLOS ARRIOLA GALLERY in the famous Hotel Camino Real in Guatemala City. Carolyn has also participated in numerous one-woman shows and group shows in both in Guatemala and the United States. Her biggest show held at the IXCHEL MUSEUM in Guatemala City in 1999 was entitled “Dos Mundos, Una Vida” and featured 25 pairs of paintings showing the parallels between the landscape and native people of Guatemala and the Himalayan countries of Nepal and Tibet where she traveled in 1998. In 1993 and 2002 she was given shows at the Durango Arts Center in Durango, Colorado. But perhaps the most famous art show that she ever participated in was the 1985 Annual Invitational Show of the prestigious Salamugundi Club in New York City who accepted a painting she did of Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona. A complete listing of her exhibitions as well as a variety of her paintings can be found on her website: www.livesite.net/carolyndailey.

“Moab Magic II” will present approximately 20 oil paintings done in the Moab area including images from the Colorado River, Castle Valley, Arches National Park and Island in the Sky. Come see her show and experience some of the magic of Moab through the eyes of artist Carolyn Dailey!

Return to Archive Index
return to home
 
Return to home