Ed Mell's Southwest

 

In the Ed Mell gallery at the Phoenix Art Museum, I saw some fascinating pieces that I had not seen before.  This Painting of a cactus flower about to open is called appropriately enough, Opening Cactus Bud. It is part of a private collection so it had not been on display before.

This one was part of a series of abstract paintings that Mell had done.  It is called Summer Hunt.

This small painting was a part of a series of canvases that were painted as ideas for larger paintings.  I loved this one.

This last one is a painting also found in his studio that is a typical Ed Mell southwestern scene.  It's called Reverent Land.  

I love seeing the small paintings that were usually studies for something much larger like the lightening strike one above.  It was enlightening to see how the artist came up with ideas for his paintings.