“My first objective is to get the white off the canvas and figure out where I’m going from there,” Lockhart said Friday night from the WineDown Lounge at the Belvedere, as he dabbed oils onto a blank slate.

He first painted dark red boxes on the stark white background, adding plenty of green and blue to define a well-known Cañon City landmark. Lockhart added touches of orange to complete his color scheme.

“This is an area right near Colon Orchards that I just spied the other day,” said Lockhart, who also works in pastels and watercolors.

The scene, a pumpkin patch in front of a red barn just across Grandview Avenue from the orchard, was easily recognized by residents who watched in awe as the painting transformed from a blank canvas to a work of art.

Lockhart gave a step-by-step explanation of the process he uses to create and described how he mixed colors to get the perfect purple tint on the Wet Mountains to the south.

Leaving the pumpkins until last, Lockhart continued to explain his method.

“I’m trying to sink them down into the ground and into their vines right now,” the talented Colorado native said. “Then I’ll put a touch of light on the pumpkins, and we’ll be just about through.”

Lockhart’s painting, “Harvest Time,” will remain on display at Merlinos’ Belvedere for a few days to completely dry. Several of his other pieces already are exhibited on the walls there.

Born and raised in Monte Vista, Lockhart climbed the ladder of artistic fame from his home studio. He has won top national awards and was featured on the cover of Southwest Art magazine. He and his wife, Sandi, recently looked for a change of pace and found themselves moving to Cañon City in May.

“We wanted to get out of the blistering cold of the San Luis Valley,” Lockhart said. “We wanted a warmer climate, somewhere we had a little bit more of a season to enjoy being outside.”

The couple wanted to be in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, but not nestled high in the peaks themselves. Fremont County fit the bill.

“Cañon City has the best home values, really, in the state for what you get,” Lockhart said.

A devotee of plein air art, Lockhart enjoys painting for an audience and decided to take that pleasure one step further.

“I wanted to get back to the old idea of the salon painters in France,” he said. “I don’t think there is enough exposure to the field of art that I’m in, which is representational painting, so I tried to bring it all together.”

Lockhart first painted at the WineDown Lounge a couple of months ago. He now plans to host live painting sessions on a regular basis and will return there from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.

“I want to be in a position where I can go out and paint on a whim,” Lockhart said. “Interestingly enough, the San Luis Valley has lost that rural feel I loved so much. I love painting rural scenery, and I lost a lot of that old character there.”

However, Lockhart said he has found what he was looking for in rural Fremont County.

“We like the size of the community here. People have been extremely friendly,” Lockhart said. “This really was a good decision for us.”

For more information on the artist, visit www.lockhartfineart.com.

Debbie Bell may be reached at dbell@ccdailyrecord.com.