“James Ratliff Gallery Salutes Summer:

SEDONA, Ariz. - May 7, 2015 - PRLog -- “Arizona High”, oil paintings by Greg Heil, opens Friday, June 5, and continues through June 18, at James Ratliff Gallery, Hillside Sedona, 671 State Route 179, Suites AST-1 & AST-2, Sedona, AZ.  There will be an opening reception from 5 – 8 PM Friday, June 5.  The artist will be present.

Greg Heil, popular and established landscape painter, is known well to visitors and residents of Arizona.  Having been personally mentored by Bill Hixson and James Ratliff throughout this career, Heil chose to focus the upcoming exhibition on some of his own personal favorite Arizona locales in the state’s higher elevations.

Heil comments the timing of this show is also great for visitors who plan to visit Arizona’s High Country as the valley’s temperatures climb to three digits!  “I’d like to share some of my own favorite destinations which some people might not know in the hopes these areas might be experienced.”

Heil explains:  “I’ll present Canyon de Chelly, Vermillion Cliffs, and historic Arizona sites.  Another highlight is Peach Springs, at the floor of the Grand Canyon, and center of the Havasupai Nation. The delight of this trip is driving on the dirt road, Diamond Creek Rd (Indian Route 6). It’s not part of Route 66 but the City of Peach Springs lies right on Route 66 and it's the only way to access the area - just like it has been since the 1920s when Route 66 was created. There’s some talk of paving it but I sure hope that doesn’t happen.”

From Ash Fork to the Colorado River you can drive over 150 miles on the Mother Road. Heil continues, “There are actual springs there and this is the place you can actually get on a boat and ride the river.”  (The Hualapai River Runners, the only Indian-owned and operated river rafting company on the Colorado River, offers one and two-day trips.)

Peach Springs got its name from the peach trees found growing by the spring here. Because the steam locomotives used water from the spring a water tank and station were built by the railroad here. A town grew up around the station and by 1883 it was said to have ten saloons but no schools or churches.

For Heil as a painter, Peach Springs and the Hualapai Reservation are an artist’s paradise that complements the outdoorsman’s paradise.  The reservation is rich in hunting, fishing, and river rafting opportunities. The tribe sells guided big-game hunting permits for desert bighorn sheep, trophy elk, antelope, and mountain lion.The pinnacle of the Reservation, is Aubrey Cliffs, standing at 7300 feet from Peach Springs’ floor at 1500 feet.

“Escape to beauty!” exclaims Heil.  While doing this, travelers can make themselves aware of the landscape’s delicate ecology struggling to survive.  “Arizona lends itself to escape and discovery,” states Heil.  “Arizona is still the West where freedom and cowboys contrast with its cities of modernity.  It’s a state of dualities.”

Heil adds, “I use duality in my work.  I put blue with orange, red with green.” Heil’s passion is to recreate for the viewer changing light, contrasts, shadows, and illuminations.

Heil’s expertise in technology causes him to reflect that the public square’s current preoccupation with the digital age will never replace works of art which are real, whose existence cannot be duplicated, erased or imitated.    Heil summarizes:  “The digital economy is disposable.  Art is not. People need beauty much as they need food and water. “

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life” wrote Pablo Picasso.  Realize “Arizona High” for yourself.  For further information, contact the James Ratliff Gallery:  928-282-1404, e-mail: FineArt@jamesratliffgallery.com, visit www.jamesratliffgallery.com.