In a blur of Inspiration - Stephanie Peters

2021 APAA Exhibit

3/12/2021

I'm pleased to share that Lost Kangaroo was juried into the Annual Arizona Pastel Artist's Association's exhibition. Usually this exhibit is on display in Sedona, at the Sedona Art Center, but this year due to everything, it's virtual! Which means more people get to see it! Check out the exhibition here.

Kangaroo Art

Lost Kangaroo, 5x7"

View the exhibit

Spread like Fire

5/15/2020

This painting was inspired by the sunsets we would see in the evenings over Coffee Pot, in Sedona, Arizona, during Slide Fire, in 2014.

Thankfully where we were living was not physically affected by Slide fire, but we were still impacted by it. From experiencing the smoke to the way our communities came together to support those who were physically impacted – we were reminded that we were all in this together, much like today with Covid-19.

If you are lucky to not physically experience coronavirus firsthand, you will still be experiencing it with empathy and compassion towards others by staying home and washing your hands. Arizona has phased into reopening, much like the rest of the country has or will but that does not mean we are healed or no longer vulnerable. Where I am today, the cases are increasing daily with no sign of decreasing. It’s important to do what you can to stop this pandemic – this never ending natural disaster. Viruses spread rapidly like wildfires but it’s our job to do what we can to prevent how many victims there are. Just like you would put out a campfire completely to prevent fires (or maybe not even start a camp fire because of fire restrictions), wear a mask and wash your hands to do your part from a continuous rapid spread of coronavirus.

One day the flames of coronavirus will be put out completely, but we’ll be left with the scars and burns, like what was left after Slide Fire along 89A towards Flagstaff - the burned trees you can still see today.

Slide Fire Sky (smoke) is part of a series called Flames to Ashes, inspired by wildfires, that I’ve added new work to recently.

Grotto Gallery at AZ Artisans Collective

10/1/2017

Escape the Madness

“Escape the Madness” and immerse your senses in an intimate colorful and playful space -- surround yourself with beauty and art.

Escape the Madness is the inaugural exhibit of Grotto Gallery, a new exhibition space in downtown Tempe, Arizona, hosted by Arizona Artisans Collective. Arizona Artisans Collective is an organizing offering business classes and workshops to help artists grow their businesses.

Escape the Madness features 10 emerging artists from Arizona, including myself. The theme of the exhibit encourages people to escape the madness of the every day, and enjoy some art. I pleased to have 9 of my new wildlife drawings as part of the exhibit. Grotto Gallery is located at 132 E. Sixth Street, in downtown Tempe.
The exhibit will be on display from October 5th to January 12th, 2018.

Learn more about the gallery

See my work at Grotto Gallery

Learn more about AZ Artisans Collective

Desert Wildlife

8/29/2017

Desert Wildlife

I live in the desert. It's hot, dry, and always sunny. It's known for scorpions and prickly cactus. But it's also known for some pretty cool animals and birds...

javalina

Javalina

Quail

Gambel 's Quail

Lately, I've been taking notice,
and getting inspired by the visitors in my backyard...

Mourning Dove

Desert Cottontail

And with a little color...

I'm sharing their personalities on paper.

ground squirrel

Round tailed ground squirrel

blue bunny

Blue Bunny (Desert Cottontail)

jackrabbit

The Great Hare (Jackrabbit)

cactus wren

Cactus Wren

coyote

Coyote

roadrunner

Roadrunner

From coyotes to roadrunners, and the curious cottontail I've named Cosmo, Arizona is far from a dry, desolate desert filled with things that hurt you...

Although, we do have rattlesnakes...

I'm excited to see and share where this collection goes... and looking forward to who stops by next!

Grand Canyon Day

4/27/2017

The Grand Canyon

277 river miles (446km) long, up to 18 miles (29km) wide, and a mile (1.6km) deep
- According to the National Park's website.

Grand Canyon

This vast canyon is essentially a big hole in the ground. But, of course there is so much more to this beautiful canyon. Anyone who has visited knows there are more secrets to the canyon than what is seen or understood on the surface. Truthfully, it can only be seen to truly appreciate or understand exactly how big this place is... It is impossible to see all of it in a day - although I've heard stories about people hiking from rim to rim in 12 hours. I haven't done that. But I have white watered rafted down the Colorado inside the Canyon, and visited the South rim more than a few times.

Since living in Arizona, I usually visit the Grand Canyon in the winter. Not really intentionally, but I suppose there are less tourists, and there is something beautiful about seeing snow at the canyon:

Grand Canyon Snow

January 2016

But, if you have friends and family in town, you make it to the Grand Canyon. Even if it takes three hours to get there! I had a friend visit for a couple days, so we took a road trip up there to see what it was like on a nice April Spring day.

grand canyon

grand canyon

juniper at grand canyon

And of course, I tried some 'en plein aire.'

SPeters drawing

I used to love painting landscapes outside - At least I thought I did. When I would go outside with my little box of watercolors (or big box of acrylics,) I would find myself drawn to painting the smallest thing about the entire landscape. A bird, or a tree, or a flower. I would forget to capture the "big" story, and focus on this little thing in front of me. Luckily, I would take hundreds (and hundreds) of photos for reference when I made big abstractions in my studio. But, as an 'en plein aire' artist, it wasn't the big landscape that inspired me, it was the simple story unfolding next to me. So even at the Grand Canyon - quite arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth - I still found myself drawn to a simple Juniper tree. I don't think it was simple though - rather, with its twisted bare branches and moss green foliage, I think it was a story worth recording.

Sometimes it is what is right in front of you that is the story worth telling.

New Watercolor Prints

3/31/2017

New Watercolor Prints

Last Saturday, I spent the afternoon painting at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an amazing place to see all kinds of desert plants, but unfortunately I can't tell you what kinds of plants, because I wasn't paying any attention to the plants. Although I find flowers pretty, plants aren't really my thing - I'm sure my botanist Grandfather is rolling in his grave hearing that - But, animals - animals are my thing. And the Desert Botanical Garden is a great place to see some native desert animals.. like the Round Tailed Ground Squirrel, or the Harris Antelope Squirrel...

round tailed ground squirrel

Round Tailed Ground Squirrel

harris antelope ground squirrel

Harris Antelope Squirrel

...and a great place to see native birds like the Gambel's Quail, Roadrunner, and even some non-native birds like the house sparrow.

Gambels quail

Male Gambel's Quail

roadrunner

Roadrunner

female house sparrow

Female House Sparrow

Painting animals from life is not exactly easy, because they never stand still. It is recommended you learn a bit about the anatomy and movement of your subject before you enter the field - and way before adding water, paint and a brush. I am no expert at painting animals from life, but I have been practicing a lot recently. My practice method is not drawing the animal in detail, but instead capturing their gestures in watercolor. With gesture painting (same principles as gesture drawing in learning how to draw the figure), you can get a better understanding of the creature's movement - which ultimately helps me when I'm in the studio painting from photographs.
So last Saturday, I was doing some gesture painting of Quail, House Sparrows and my favorite this week, the Harris Antelope Squirrel. Now, because the animal moves... and really doesn't stop moving... ever... with watercolor gesture painting, you get blobs of paint that kind of resemble a distorted road-kill version of the really adorable creature you are trying desperately to paint...

gesture painting

Scene from my sketchbook

But sometimes, you can get some really interesting results. And those blobs and layers of watercolor paint can catch the essence, the life, the energy of that really adorable creature you are painting...

gesture painting

Pages from my sketchbook

And sometimes, you can take those gestures, and with a little digital magic,
turn them into works of art....

Abstract house Sparrow

House Sparrow

framed house sparrow art

Framed print, available at Fine Art America.

abstract blue squirrel

Harris Antelope Squirrel

framed art squirrel

Framed Print, available at Fine Art America

Then, make them available as prints on products of course...

house sparrow abstract tote bag

squirrel mug

Just another fun way of merging technology and art: The traditional into the digital.

I think the best thing about gesture painting is that it keeps you loose. When painting from photographs, I tend to get too technical and focus on all the details. Which can be interesting if you are trying to render a subject accurately and realistically. But, I prefer to paint abstractly - I love how abstract marks can add an energy that sometimes gets lost in 2D art. So when you are out in the 'field,' this method really enhances the movement and I feel it brings the soul of the subject to life. More gesture painting to come as warm spring days invite me outdoors.

Harris Antelope Squirrel

3/29/2017

Last week, I was all about the Round tailed Ground Squirrel, and as seen on instagram, this week,
I've discovered the

Harris Antelope Squirrel

harris antelope squirrel

That doesn't really show it's cuteness...

Squirrel

Or how about...

Desert Harris Antelope squirrel

The Harris Antelope Squirrel is native to Arizona, New Mexico and some parts of northern Mexico. It looks very similar to a chipmunk, but is in fact a squirrel. They can be found in rocky desert areas and around cacti. They are always dashing around and looking adorable. But, when they get hot, they will find a cool shady area, and spread their legs out so their belly will touch the cool ground. This helps release the heat from their body, and explains their odd behavior. Well some of it...

Harris antelope squirrel standing

So to celebrate my new favorite subject, I decided to take three different materials and explore how I want to share my love for it. The first material I used to convey the subject was charcoal:

Squirrel in charcoal

Harris Antelope Squirrel in Charcoal See details

Charcoal is a wonderful material to really grab the form, and showcase the values in the composition - but wasn't quite what I was looking for... Next, I tried some graphite and added a little wash to it...

harris antelope squirrel drawing

Harris Antelope Squirrel with watercolor wash See details

Then to really capture the personality of the Harris Antelope Squirrel, I decided to draw a more quirky pose, in just the simplicity of graphite:

drawing of harris antelope squirrel

Harris Antelope Squirrel in Graphite

Graphite is one of my favorite mediums to render a subject in, the precision and value helps bring the creature to life.
A good wildlife drawing or painting is usually rendered quite well - but a great or even exceptional wildlife painting, I believe, captures the soul - the personality - the life of the subject. By doing the Harris Antelope Squirrel in three different mediums, I am able to explore different styles, textures, etc. that will help me find my way to share the soul, the personality, and the life of the subject - at least, how I see it or experience it. Most likely, these studies will lead to a larger pastel drawing or even a painting. I know for sure though, this little squirrel gives so much inspiration in it's tiny package, that I'll never stop wanting to draw or paint it!

Round-tailed Ground Squirrel

3/12/2017

I've fallen in love... Big black eyes, tan and gray, and somewhere between a prairie dog and a rat... this little creature has entered my heart:

round tailed ground squirrel

Did you notice how cute he or she is? Here's a better picture...

ground squirrel arizona

This little creature is called a round-tailed ground squirrel. I've never heard of such a thing, or seen one, until i stumbled upon them at the San Tan Mountain Regional Park, east of Phoenix, last November...

ground squirrel san tan

We both froze when we saw each other. Then, slowly, he (or she..its kind of hard to tell) came closer to my car.. and I took some close up pictures. Which inspired this pastel drawing...

round tailed ground squirrel drawing

Round-tailed Ground Squirrel, Soft Pastel on light blue-gray toned paper, 18x24"

Then winter happened in Arizona... you know that one month where we get something called cold weather... and the ground squirrels went into hibernation.
But, this past week, I went to the Desert Botanical Garden, in Phoenix, and fell in love with them all over again... Because it's spring, and spring is a marvelous time of year.
It's the time of year when we get to see cute, little ground squirrels munching on new leaves as they climb up high into the trees...

ground squirrel in tree

round tailed ground squirrel

arizonas round tailed ground squirrel

ground squirrel eating on leaves

They are just so darn cute.

And this one is definitely going to find its way into some new pastel drawings.

Uncommon Markets

9/28/2016

Join me October 8th & 9th at Salt River Fields for Uncommon Markets

I will be participating in the inaugural event for Uncommon Markets. Uncommon Markets is a new event coming to Scottsdale that offers an opportunity to support local artisans, discover sustainable goods, find uncommon stuff, enjoy food, music, and see innovative new art from emerging 29 & under artists - like myself! It will be my first market/art festival type event and I'm very excited to take this opportunity to share new work with a new audience. Learn more about the festival at Uncommon Markets' website, and if you do make it out, find me at booth 220!

Cathedral Rock, Sedona

3/30/2016

I live here..

Sedona, Arizona

Well, I live in a place that beautiful red rock landscapes exist down the street from me.
It's called Sedona, Arizona.
Thousands of tourists flock here to hike, explore, and stand in awe of these amazing red rock formations.

Cathedral Rock

Cathedral Rock, Sedona Arizona

Who can blame them really? It's quite a spectacular sight when you first stumble upon them.
Sedona is also known for it's spiritual community, and the famous vortexes. Vortexes are places where the Earth is exceptionally alive with energy and people can feel it when they stand there or something like that. I'm not really sure, but thousands of people come to Sedona seeking out these vortexes in order to discover something about themselves. Recently, a friend of mine came to visit Sedona for the day, and went with a guide to one of these vortexes that is apparently located at Cathedral Rock. She shared how wonderful the experience was at dinner afterwards, and it got me curious. I had been to Cathedral Rock before, but it had been years. So with nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon, I took a hike to Cathedral rock in search for this vortex.

footprints

I'm not sure if I found the exact location of this Vortex in question,
but I did find beauty...

Oak Creek

flowing oak creek

rocks in oak creek

Oak Creek, Sedona

Big Rocks Oak Creek Sedona

Oak Creek, Sedona

Oak Creek near Cathedral Rock

And some interesting trees...

Spiney trees

flooded trees

Even if I probably wasn't in the right vortex spot and definitely didn't know exactly what one does at a vortex... I did find it beautiful and moving for me. One doesn't need to believe or understand Sedona magic to recognize an inspiring landscape that moves you to create... even if it just asks to become a magnet.

sedona magnet