Maria Arvayo (Day 3)

My studio is located in a large shared building with multiple artists where you can see a variety of work. I will be working in my studio during OST as time and visitors allow so that folks can see my painting/printmaking processes.

About the Process

I'm inspired by the Sonoran Desert landscape and a good deal of my paintings are plein air, this means I work outside on location for many of the scenes that I paint. Smaller works are usually completed on site. Larger works are completed or sometimes done entirely in the studio. I paint traditional desert scenes and also local grasslands, mountains, washes and creeks. I also do some abstract work and portraits. For plein air my favorite mediums are watercolor and pastel because I find them easier to travel with. I decide which medium to use based on the idea/inspiration. My encaustic paintings are entirely studio based because of the amount of equipment needed. I actually prefer to do these in my back yard when the weather is cooler. In the summer there is a limited amount of time where it's comfortable to work outside so I either go out early or late in the day or try to get to a higher elevation like Mt. Lemmon or the Santa Rita's. Fall, winter and early spring are my favorite times of year here. The quality of light is ideal.