WARDEN OF THE CANYON

2021 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins 11

May 17, 2025

With one knee raised up, an armored figure hovers in a canyon of earthy spires, each blooming a single fanned leaf at its peak. Three full moons of varying size hang in the sky. Up and down the spires nestle seeds in the shape of perfect blue and purple spheres, gleaming like dew drops. The fairy is fully armored in bronze. Short hair flares wildly from a wide red headband. She holds a staff in front of her with hands gripped wide. A long sword is sheathed low on her back with the handle of another shorter blade crossing on the other hip. A woody spiral twists up beneath her as if echoing her upward motion in the air. — WARDEN OF THE CANYON (2021), Acrylic on Canvas - 8 ½” x 7”

I store my acrylics in plastic food containers, which allows them to last a long time while I’m working. Eventually, though, the paints have to be disposed of to make room for something new and these become my leftovers.

To use them up, I’ll paint something spur of the moment on a piece of scrap board or canvas kept nearby for such a purpose.

LEFT: Work in progress photo of FAHRENHEIT 451 shot at an angle. Black paint drips down to the scraps protecting the drafting table below. RIGHT: Photo of a scrap of paper that was used to catch overspray. The paper is turned so the drips are facing up. — FAHRENHEIT 451 (work in progress) with a scrap of canvas catching drips of paint

In this case, I had a scrap used as a support for FAHRENHEIT 451, a common practice when I want to catch overspray or drips from whatever I’m working on.

The drip marks reminded me of the stone pinnacles at Bryce Canyon National Park, which I’d photographed years ago during a hiking trip with my son Adrian.

I imagined a fantasy canyon with “fairy chimneys” sprouting bubbly seed pods.