Demonstrations
Louise Sackett: Palette and Various Approaches to a Limitless Landscape
Thu September 24, 2026 @ 9:00 am – 11:30 am
Free!
Note: Meet at the park pavilion and carpool to location.
Louise primarily paints en plein air and works most often in oils, which she will demonstrate. She also works in pastel and has worked in water media.
Louise will talk about the differences between opaque and transparent pigments, and when and how to use them. She will further talk about handy little on the job theories/systems to think about such as order of operations in painting. Louise will demonstrate how to simplify and use shapes as the basis for great compositions, giving handy concepts to aid in the design. Louise further intends to not have her entire box hit the dirt during setup, but hey, you never know!!
Come by and she will explain her palette and various approaches to a limitless landscape.
Louise Sackett is an award winning artist who has studied, exhibited and taught on both coasts. She has been an artist her life long, and was art director for a Navy squadron whose primary mission was flight and platform training.
Louise finds the endless variety of Utah’s topography a challenge that often results in differing approaches. It has been several years since Louise has been in Escalante and she looks forward to the wild colors, rocky landscape and the opportunity to meet others sharing the same passion.
Suzanne Gibson: Plein Air using a Primary Palette
Fri September 25, 2026 @ 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Price: Free!
Note: Class taught in oils, suitable for all levels and all mediums.
Join Suzanne for a demonstration and hands on art lesson. Using a primary palette Suzanne will guide you through a composition and block on layers of color. Learn color mixing and enjoy the process.
Interior design, decorative arts, and painting have been Suzanne’s focus for many years. She transitioned to plein air and studio painting in 2008, and began art instruction as an assistant and docent for her children’s school where she developed new lessons and taught all grade levels. Suzanne is the founder of the Art GAP and is a regular contributing artist for area programs like Arts Alive, Hands On Art, Adventures in Art, and other offerings of the South Bay Art Alliance. In 2025 she became an instructor for the Orange County Art Group and continues to host plein air workshops along the California Coast.
Suzanne is a California impressionist painter.
Originally from Preston, England, she calls southern California home.
Suzanne enjoys that plein air pairs nicely with travel, and she finds opportunities to paint and teach in new locations. Her favorite spots include Ireland, France, and state/national parks in California, Utah and Arizona. She is on the faculty for the PleinAir Convention in the Ozarks (May 2026).
This will be her 4th year at Escalante Canyons Art Festival, and her third year as an instructor. You can see more of her work at: Artbysuzanngibson.blogspot.com/
Find out more »Arizona Artists’ Eyes: A Diverse Approach to Escalante
Sat September 26, 2026 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Meet at the Escalante Town Park Pavillion and carpool to location.
Price: Free!
Join Hope Ricciardi, Tamara Sampson, and Kristine Dutton as they demonstrate three approaches to painting Plein Air. You are welcome to paint with them or just observe the demos.
Hope Ricciardi
After 45+ years as a Boston artist and teacher of various media, Hope now focuses on paintings of Southwest landscapes. Her impressionist style is in oils on canvas or panels with an emphasis on the extraordinary energy and light of the Red Rocks, Grand Canyon and beyond. In 2023, Hope participated in the Escalante Canyons Art Festival, winning the Plein Air Purchase Award for her painting, First Impression. Other awards include First Place at the Plein Air on the Santa Cruz, first place at the ORO Valley Plein Air Competition. She is a member of American Impressionist Society, Arizona Plein Air Painters, Outdoor Painters Society, Laguna Plein Air Painters and Paint Arizona Day.
In 2025, she juried the Escalante Arts Festival with Jim Wodark, and taught a workshop. Hope holds a BFA from The Museum School, Boston and Tufts University and is currently at Sedona Artist Market & Gallery, Sedona, Arizona.
You can see more of her work at: www.hopemricciardi.com
Tamara Sampson
Tamara is a Northern Arizona oil painter whose work is inspired by the landscapes and light of the American Southwest. Painting both en plein air and in the studio, she combines realism with expressive interpretation to capture the atmosphere and emotion of a place. Her work reflects a passion for continual growth, observation, and the experience of painting directly from life.
You can see more of her work at: TamaraSampsonArt.com
Kristine Dutton
Kristine enjoys spending time in nature and creating art. After a career in environmental management, she moved to Prescott, Arizona where she fell in love with plein air painting in the diverse landscapes of the southwest. She has been a regular student at Scottsdale Artists’ School and has studied under artists she admires for their technical knowledge of painting from life and their ability to create beautiful landscapes and portraits such as Jerry Salinas, Bill Cramer, and others.
As an avid hiker and plein air painter, Kristine finds inspiration in observing nature and seeks to capture the character of nature’s intricate beauty in her work.
You can see more of her work at: https://www.instagram.com/kristine_dutton_art/
