The secret to Burt Procter’s distinctive style might have vanished with him except that his daughter, Ginny Bohannan, has now shared an early video of her father teaching his technique. Aspiring desert artists can watch as the cowboy modernist demonstrates…
Category: Featured
Burt Procter: A Cowboy Modernist on Miracle Hill
Up on Miracle Hill in Desert Hot Springs, the pueblo-builder and snake-tender Cabot Yerxa took painting lessons from his neighbor, Burt Procter, while Procter’s young daughter Ginny played on a packed dirt floor, sprinkled down with water to keep it…
Q&A with Greg Frux: How to Be an Expedition Artist
The Brooklyn-based artist Gregory William Frux is a master of adventure art in Joshua Tree, Death Valley and all over the world. Also known as exploration art or expedition art, the practice dates to an era when documentary artists routinely…
Gunnar Widforss: Painter of the National Parks Joins the Smoketree School
Ed. note: Desert artist, museum curator and former Colorado river guide Alan Petersen is seeking work by Gunnar Widforss for a new book. Please see the end of his article for details and a link to Alan’s own work. Swedish-American…
Four Days, Fifteen Artists, Death Valley
In March, 2012, after 40 years of enjoying visits and painting Death Valley, I brought in reinforcements in the form of eight artist friends to help me capture the beauty of this magical place. The paint-out led me to publish…
Stephen Willard’s Mammoth Lakes Gallery Reopening
Portland art dealers Robert and Sue Joki were looking for an encore career to crown 25 years of success in the gallery business. They found their opening courtesy of the early Palm Springs photographer Stephen Willard. In May, 2013, the…
Grace Hall Hemingway’s Painting Tour of the Southwest
Ed. Note: In a coup for the Smoketree School, we’ve discovered that Grace Hall Hemingway, mother of Ernest, painted scenes around the Imperial Valley, Death Valley and the Coachella Valley. Here her grandson, John E. Sanford, looks at Grace’s late-in-life…
The Smoketree Artists’ Historic Home Tour
This article first appeared in Palm Springs Life, Winter/Spring 2013 Any Palm Springs visitor can board a bus and tour Liberace’s pad. With only a little more effort, you can see the view that inspired mystical visions from Agnes Pelton’s…
Millicent Harvey: A Boston Transplant Befriends the Smoke Tree
I’ve pondered smoke trees more than most people, but over lunch with Millicent Harvey–a recent transplant from Boston to Palm Springs—I quickly realized I was the novice listening to a teacher far more experienced on the subject. The smoke tree…
Sharing Death Valley with Artist Friends
Ed. note: Jim Trolinger’s new book Painting in Death Valley is a must for desert artists and their fans. See ordering info at the end of the article. After 40 years of visiting and painting Death Valley I still enjoy…