The Rest of Wyoming

There were a few more paintings that I did during the week- this is of the Snowies on a cloudy day- picking this motif was a mistake and i knew it about 10 minutes into the painting- but did I stop and change gears?  No way- very dumb...

This is a painting across the alley from the cement factory in Cheyenne- the workers were so sweet- they drove real slow as to not kick up too much dust while we were painting- for that I am grateful...

Here is Ulrich Gleiter- our new friend from Germany with his Quick draw and the new owner as well as the model of the painting.....

Coni Grant and Scott Eckberg enjoying Kitty's cookies at Harvey Deselms Gallery.

Kitty's Cookies- these little gems were made to look like small plein air paintings- it was hard to eat them because they were so amazing.  But I did and and it was delicious!

Ranch Hand

11x14

This is a truck I painted at the Hereford Ranch- not only was I able to get away from painting the pristine barns, but I was able to paint in the shade as well.  Cheyenne was pretty toasty from about 10:30 on in the morning so I apreciated this spot.  This old truck was hidden back behind some buildings and I was able to hide in the small open building across from this scene and take my time.  I wanted to paint some of the streams around in the afternoon but was starting to lose steam- I wasn't sleeping very well at all - and waking up every morning at 4 was starting to take its toll on me.

Bird Call

16x12

The afternoon at the Snowies was nice- we did quite a bit of driving around.. First we went to the plain to the east of the mountains, looked around and then finally decided that since we had taken the time to drive all the way to the Snowies, we should actually paint them.  So, we went back up on our little dirt road that winds around with all of the beautful lakes and I settled in to paint this scene.  There were a lot of people around and I started to get to work when this young couple started to do bird calls behind me.  I found myself becoming rather annoyed - they were poorly done bird calls.  I found myself trying to tune them out the whole time.. When they finally decided to stop doing the bird calls, I was almost finished with my painting.  

I added some warm touches to the painting and and was pleased with the results.

Wyoming Plein Air

12x9

It has taken me a while to post - there was no service in the Snowy Range and then Cheyenne has been wild- painting all day and events in the evening and then collapsing into bed at night.  This is the first painting that I completed at the Snowy Range on Sunday morning.  This was a small lake at the top of the pass and fog was drifting in and out all morning.  I tried to get some highlights on the trees while the sun was out - it was really quite beautiful.  Will try to post more soon...

Chugging off to Wyoming

Down by the Tracks

11x14

Coni and I will be taking off to Wyoming tomorrow for the third annual Wyoming Plein Air event. We will be painting in the Snowy Range for 2 days and then on to Cheyenne for the rest of the week.  The show for the plein air event will be on August 14 at 7 pm.  I will try to post paintings as they are completed during the week but I can't make any promises- things get a little hectic during paint outs.  I will try my best- I'm hoping to get some really good paintings from this trip.

Plein Air Painting at the Snowy Range

Well, Coni and I took off to the Snowy Range and stayed the night in the cute little town of Centennial. This is a picture of Coni and I cleaning up to head out as the sun was lowering in the sky.

The Friendly Store is a cute little gas station and convenience store right next to our hotel in Centennial.

This is where we stayed in Centennial- The Old Corral- we really enjoyed this place - the rooms were perfect.

A Picture of Patrice Walker and I after a hard day's work. Patrice found us painting by Mirror Lake and we went painting up Brooklyn Lake road after that.

This is the painting completed up the Brooklyn Lake Road. The views were astounding- makes you want to start singing the theme to "The Sound of Music." Don't worry - I didn't.

Plein Air Painting in Chugwater, Wyoming

9x12

"Chugwater Bluffs"

The next day in Wyoming; Coni and I drove to Chugwater to paint. Rich Gallego told us it was a great little place with some cool grain elevators, bluffs and ranches. He was right . We left at close to 6 to get there for the "good" light and saw these beautiful bluffs. I painted it with a yellow sky- it just felt yellow to me.

12x16

Later the same morning, we set up on right in front of the grain elevator and I saw this charming ranch scene with a VW bug in the field. This is appropriately named "A Bug in the Field" Both of these paintings are at the Link Gallery in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

More Plein Air Paintings from Wyoming

The next day of the Wyoming Plein consisted of getting up very early in the morning and heading out to the Hereford Ranch, southeast of Cheyenne. The painting above is a painting of some of the buildings at the ranch - early morning. The painting on top is a sunset that was attempted by me again this year along highway 30- and it kicked my behind AGAIN!
Maybe next year...

Wyoming Plein Air- Day One

Wyoming Plein Air- Well it was fun and I was sad because I had to leave early and missed the show on Saturday but the painting was good and Coni and I had a great time. These are the paintings I completed on the first day of the show- the top was a train parked by the tracks - done in the afternoon - it was leaning to the left which helped create a sense of movement. The lower painting was the first of the trip- I started this at about 9:30 Sunday morning and was impressed with the shadows on the foreground buildings- I really enjoy painting down by the tracks in Cheyenne- so much history.

Headed to Wyoming

The Wrangler Building is a landmark in Cheyenne.

A picture of the Snowy Range Mountains - we will be heading there on Wednesday night.

I will be heading to Cheyenne, Wyoming for the 2nd annual plein air paint out so will have lots of fun paintings to post and stories to tell- I have posted several paintings on this site to show while I am gone - so enjoy.

Wyoming quickdraw

The Quickdraw in Cheyenne was the first I had participated in in and I really enjoyed it. I decided to paint looking up at the train depot tower. there were perspective issues to deal with but I was happy with it and it sold as well. This was painted in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was nice having people coming around and commenting on the art. There was farmer's market going on at the same time as the quick draw so it was a lively place. The auction was immediately following the quick draw in the ballroom at the Plains Hotel.