Twisted Tree

9x12

Well, my husband and son decided to shoot clay pigeons at the ranch again so I tagged along- decided this time to go to the other side of the ranch to avoid being in the line of fire. I have been reading alot of Emile Gruppe lately and what he says about painting trees. He says that you need to capture their character and even exaggerate their chatacter if need be. This tree needed no exaggeration. I do wish that it would start greening up over there- March is a tough time in the San Luis Valley.

Pearl Lakes Cabin

20x30

No, this is not a plein air painting but a commission finally finished for James and Donna Cooley. They were extremely patient waiting for this piece. It was a challenge as there were no strong verticals so I used the clouds to create diagonals for interest around the cabin. I took the picture for this painting after a downpour and the colors were fresh and bright. It was a beautiful day and I took pictures all the way home.

Urban Landscape #2

12x16

Coni Grant and I decided to paint Alamosa again- the old power plant was my choice for painting material while hers was painting the train on the tracks. It was late morning and I was painting into the sun so my subject was shadowed. I enjoyed the plant- it has alot of negative space and I truly just like the change from what I normally do and people are amazed to see you painting things like this- one woman commented " Why are you painting this stuff when you could be painting something much prettier?" Men like it though-most guys like old junkyards etc. and see no problem with painting old power plants, trucks, trains, etc. It was a good day.