Local artist Riley Lubich has been painting for as long as she can remember. Many of her paintings reflect the outdoor environment she’s in, from the snowy mountains of Montana, where she’s from, to the canyons of the Colorado River near where she currently resides.
“That’s what I feel really connected to and drawn to,” Lubich noted, adding that once she began painting landscapes in 2018, she didn’t turn back.
This winter, she’s hosting a four-week series called Into to Landscape Painting. Starting in February and ending in mid-March, every Wednesday at the Moab Arts Building Lubich teaches basic painting principles and techniques specifically catered for landscape composition. In the course, students are provided with all the material and finish with landscape paintings of their own creation.
“It’s fun to get new people in who don’t have a lot of experience painting,” Lubich said. “There’s been a huge range of people and skill levels ranging from people who’ve never painted before to someone who is already a landscape painter and shows her paintings professionally.”
Lubich emphasized the importance of foundational painting knowledge which includes color theory, perspective, form, and composition. In the first class, she begins with a lecture that goes over these concepts before the actual painting begins.
“We go over all of the basic principles of art and design. The main education point is composition and teaching the design principles that will help create a good composition,” Lubich said, noting that composition is one of the most important parts of landscape painting as it emphasizes the space and depth between the foreground, middle ground and background.
“For whatever style you use, whether it’s painting, realism, or impressionism or abstract, the one thing that is really consistent across all those styles is you still have to have a good composition,” Lubich added. “Otherwise the paintings are not going to translate.”
Central to Lubich’s teaching philosophy is her encouragement of students to find their own artistic voice, instead of teaching a particular style of technique.
“I don’t do any painting myself in the class, I’m there to guide people because I don’t want to force people into painting the way that I paint,” Lubich explained. “When somebody asks me, how do you paint a tree, I think it’s a lot cooler to have them figure it out themselves. To figure out how they paint a tree rather than show them how I paint a tree.”
Her advice to anyone interested in painting is to find inspiration from various styles and artists they enjoy.
“If you want to take a class, but you don’t have a class accessible to you, there is so much information on the internet that you can find. There are tons of videos on YouTube,” Lubich said, adding that foundational knowledge is key to beginning any painting journey.
This is the second time Lubich has taught at the Moab Arts Building, the first taking place in 2022. Kelley McInerney, arts and special events director for the City of Moab, emphasized the value of creating opportunities to support the local artists in the community.
“We feel it is important to offer fun, educational, and interactive programs for our Moab locals,” McInerney said. “Last year we expanded our class offerings to be year-round—formerly classes were offered Jan-March—which gives local artists the ability to teach more often and more consistently if they are passionate about doing so.”
While Lubich’s 2024 landscape class is now sold out, McInerney pointed to the various other upcoming classes to sign up for, with financial scholarships available for individuals.
“Some upcoming classes in April will be another Jewelry Wrapping class, ages 8+, with Thomas Crumrine, a Paint Nite, ages 10+ with Bitsy Tatera, and a Bollywood Dance Class with Annie Larson, ages 14+,” McInerney said. “In March we are hosting two workshops with our Artists in Residence, these are more of a drop-in, free workshop style, but advanced sign up is appreciated.”
If artists are interested in instructing a class, McInerney also encourages them to reach out to pweicht@moabcity.org with a brief class proposal.
To stay up to date on future classes, events, and more at the Moab Arts Building, visit the Moab Arts website at moabarts.org/classes or sign up for their newsletter at the bottom of their homepage. To view more of Lubich’s art including originals, prints, stickers, and other mixed media, visit her website, rileylubichart.com.
