“Goulding’s Stagecoach” is a Southwest watercolor inspired by Monument Valley, created during my time in New Jersey. This desert landscape captures the quiet history and vastness of the land that shaped my Sedona artwork and still influences my Sedona watercolor paintings today.

Goulding’s Stagecoach: First Encounters with Monument Valley

While still living in New Jersey, my wife and I traveled to the Southwest whenever we could, searching for landscapes that felt completely different from anything I had known. One of our earliest and most influential destinations was Monument Valley. From the moment I saw those towering buttes rising from the desert floor, I knew this place would stay with me forever.

Monument Valley was not just a destination—it became a visual anchor for my artistic journey. Long before I moved to Sedona, its scale, silence, and sense of timelessness were already shaping my watercolor artwork. You’ll find echoes of those buttes appearing again and again in my Sedona watercolor paintings, including Tortilla Flat, Pueblo Mission, and Transient Sky.

Breakfast with History at Goulding’s Lodge

In the early 1990s, staying at Goulding’s Lodge required reserving nearly two years in advance. It was the only place to stay with the Monument Valley Tribal Park just across the street. One morning, while eating breakfast in the Stagecoach Dining Room, I looked out the window and saw an old stagecoach resting quietly against the vast red rock backdrop.

That image stopped me cold. The contrast between human history and the vast scale of the land felt deeply symbolic. After breakfast, I stepped outside and took photos of the stagecoach from multiple angles. I didn’t realize it then, but one of those pictures would become Goulding’s Stagecoach.

Painting Scale Through Watercolor

Back home in New Jersey, I painted Goulding’s Stagecoach in watercolor, depicting the stagecoach humbly sitting beneath the towering formations of Monument Valley. Working with watercolor taught me how to imply scale without overwhelming detail—letting space, shadow, and placement convey the sense of size.

That understanding of scale later led to one of my most ambitious works: a Monument Valley painting of John Ford Point measuring ten feet wide. I painted it in my garage on a special easel, taking me six months to complete. While Goulding’s Stagecoach is more intimate, it shares the same reverence for place. The small foreground subject placed against the vast land became a recurring visual theme in my Southwest artwork and desert landscape paintings.

From a New Jersey Wall to Monument Valley Itself

I framed the original watercolor and hung it in our New Jersey home, never imagining where it would eventually live. After moving to Sedona in 2004, Monument Valley’s influence on my work remained strong. During a Thanksgiving trip back to Goulding’s Lodge, I brought the original painting with me, quietly hoping it might find a home there.

When I showed it to the general manager, Ronnie Morn, he asked where it should hang. Each location I suggested was politely declined. As we walked down a hallway toward the exit, I noticed two identical framed prints of John Wayne. As a last effort, I suggested replacing one of them with my painting.

Ronnie mentioned the frame didn’t match. I replied that frames are meant to complement the artwork—not the frame next to it. He held the painting up, stepped back, and paused. That moment changed everything.

Later, Goulding’s Stagecoach was displayed in the main dining room with proper lighting, so guests could see it while looking out at the landscape that inspired it.

A Foundation for My Sedona Work

This watercolor means much more than just a single moment—it signifies the start of a lifelong connection with Monument Valley and the Southwest. As an emerging artist at that time, I was discovering how memory, place, and restraint could come together. These lessons still guide my Sedona artwork today, whether I’m creating Sedona wall art, Arizona art prints, or vivid, mystical landscapes.

My artwork is displayed at The Village Gallery, widely recognized as the top art gallery in Sedona. It’s an inspiring space where collectors can stand before my luminous Sedona landscapes and Southwest wall art, feel their energy, and see how places like Monument Valley continue to influence my artistic journey.

The Heart of It All

Art lights up the same part of your brain as

falling in love—it’s an unforgettable feeling.

Collector’s Note

“Goulding’s Stagecoach” is an early watercolor created while I lived in New Jersey, inspired by firsthand visits to Monument Valley and Goulding’s Lodge. It signifies the beginning of my voice as a Sedona artist and the enduring influence of the Southwest on my work.