Bison at the Zapata

Bison at the Zapata
To purchase, Click here
5x7

This small painting was done from the Zapata Ranch at the base of the Sand Dunes- it has very thick paint strokes on it- that is what I love about the 8 ply illustration board with Shellac on it.... the paint adheres so wonderfully- makes painting a joy.  I would like to be able to find a surface that is larger that could mimic these smaller ones but haven't been able to yet.  If I paint on anything larger than an 11x14 it starts to warp...

I have been working on some larger studio paintings- mostly for my gallery in Taos, will post soon.

Back from Salida

Well I am back from the Colorado Mountain Plein Air event and will need some catching up (sleep) to do.The above painting, a 11x14 entitled Mt Yale from Cottonwood Lake Rd and won an honorable mention at the event.  It wasn't a money prize (dang) but I still had fun.  The more you spend time in an area, the more possibilities for painting good material pop up.

Such is the case with this painting of the river and outskirts of Salida from Spiral Drive.  We painted this right before the sun was setting and the paint does fly when the conditions change so fast.  I think I will take this painting and work up some different scenerios and make a larger studio painting. Well I do have more paintings to post so I will do that later..  For now, it is catch up time.

Cool Day in the Mountains

Cool Day in the Mountains
6x8

This is the latest painting I have added to the Daily Paintworks website:
It can be purchased for $125.00 - click here

This is a scene entering Ouray from the north- it was a beautiful but slightly hazy day.

Windy Days

Alas, the wind has been so fierce the last couple of weeks that it has been extremely difficult getting outside to paint.  We tried to paint in the Conejos last week for the Southern Colorado PAAC members and Peg Immel drove over all the way from Taos.  The wind was so horrible and it was so cold that we gave up. Wind is the bane of my existence- no painting outside right now.... So I have been working in the studio trying to develop some paintings for the Creede Repertory art show for the month of June. Below is a painting of North Clear Creek Falls. These falls are between Lake City and Creede, pretty close to Bristolhead mountain.

North Clear Creek Falls

36x24

This was a fun painting to paint- some are just easier than others.

Painting for Creede

Original Creede

16x12

Coni, Dave and I will be having a show in Creede Colorado at the Creede Repertory Theater this summer from May 24- July 1, 2011.  I am thrilled because I LOVE the small town of Creede and the people that live there.  Well, anyway, Coni, Dave and I decided to drive to Creede to check out the gallery space and get at least one painting done while we were up there.  We met up with Stephen and Marta Quiller while we were there and saw the beautiful paintings that Steve is doing for the new theater space-- I would love to show them on this blog but they are a surprise-- so no revealing them here.... sorry- but I can guarantee that they are fabulously beautiful!!

We then drove up to check out the mining site north of town and to look for good painting material- I took this picture driving up the north side of the Bachelor loop- look at the amazing layout of the mining areas- 

We then scouted around the original part of Creede- and I did the painting above- hence the title "Original Creede".  Here is Coni and Dave taking in the sights.

How to Avoid being Eaten by a Mountain Lion while Outdoor Painting

 There are a few ways to keep from being eaten by a mountain lion while outdoor painting and since I have always been very paranoid about this issue, I will list a few tips on not getting eaten.

1.  Take a gun- I used to paint with a friend that carried a gun- it was always in the back of my mind- oh yes, we have a gun- if ANYTHING attacks, we will be ok.  Of course there are many things that could go wrong when trying to shoot a leaping mountain lion; I just tried to not think about it.

2. Bear spray- yes, mountain lions do not like bear spray which is really a spray consisting of pepper spray and I don't think there is a creature on earth that wouldn't be deterred from that.  One downfall- the animal, human or wild, has to get rather close to be sprayed. Oh, but you say, bear spray can spray from 15 to 20 feet.  That is still too close for me.

3. Travel in a large group of painters.  Yes, this will detour a mountain lion- - they don't want to take on a large group of screaming, frenzied painters.... would you?

4. Take a dog.  Cats hate dogs- even big cats.  Now a big cat is not going to be afraid of your miniature schnauzer or poodle so you need to have some common sense here. Hound dogs, labs, german shepherds or even monster big dogs like great danes- that's what I'm talking about.

This is Buck - my 6 month old Lab



Well, yesterday, I went painting at the last minute- took off in the middle of the afternoon- decided to paint at Penitente Canyon - I knew that I could call my painting friends, Coni and David but they would have a difficult time trying to make it to Penitente at the last minute so I took my dog, who ended up being a great painting companion- he stayed close and growled alot at probably what was a mouse or two- but it made me feel safe. I don't really know how well he would handle a large cat showing up but we were lucky and didn't have to worry about it.

There are lots of wonderful rocks at Penitente Canyon- if I were mountain lion, I would want to hang out here for awhile.

The 14x18 painting that I painted at Penitente.

Well, hope these mountain lion tips will help you plein air painters out there.  Stay safe!

A beautiful Day at Rock Creek

Coni, dave, and i took off to Rock Creek to paint in some snow for a change- what a beautiful day!  It was warm and sunny the entire time and a good winter painting experience.

Coni is ready to paint!

David is getting there!

I always have a difficult time trying to decide the best scene to pick- there were quite a few to choose from-  I was looking for strong value patterns and ended up picking some Aspen by the road- the sun changed the light patterns before I had completely set up the easel- so I knew this was going to be a quick one or I would lose those great shadows- painting partly from observation and partly from memory, I was able to get one done that I was pleased with....

Rock Creek Melody
11x14

I finished fast enough to walk around and take a few pictures- the pictures didn't come out that great as the light was bleaching everything out- I was thankful that we were out early enough to get some nice color.

La Garita Aspen

This was painted up La Garita again- I painted this with the light to my back looking towards the west-- The paint is very thick on this canvas- the size is 14x18.  I feel alot of anxiety right now- I know how beautiful the mountains are with the golden trees and I would like to paint 24/7 but can't- frustrating!

Platoro

Platoro is a reservoir in the San Juan mountains; an extremely remote reservoir. I usually go to up the Alamosa River Canyon to paint, but last Sunday I decided to drive to Antonito, drive up Hwy 17 towards Cumbres Pass, and then turn off toward Platoro.

It was breathtakingly beautiful as I drove up the mountain, but also overwhelmingly green.  Greeen!! I stopped at a small place with a wetlands area - absolutely sublime.  The reflections of the evergreens, the smell of wild roses wafting in the air and the perfect weather was overwhelmingly beautiful.  The only problem was the fact that I couldn't paint it- it was too close to the road and there was a major dropoff to actually see the reflections, etc.. A place that just didn't work for an artist with any type of easel to set up.  So I took a picture and went on.  I finally arrived to Platoro resevoir and set up- I finished up at about 5 and was ready to drive the long drive home. This is a 14x18.

The picture that I took of the wetlands didn't turn out well at all.  I was disappointed.

Soward Ranch paint out

On the last post I ahowed a picture of Bristol Head Mountain from the west looking at the mountain.  Well, we drove to the Soward Ranch and this is the view looking at the mountain from the east.  It was really obscurred by fog and honestly, very dramatic.  Here is a better picture of the mountain-----

I decided to give it a shot for my first painting for the paint out-- the weather had been rather rainy but was clearing fast so I really thought I could pull this off-- I never seem to get to paint mountains as much as I'd like so decided to do it when halfway through the painting the wind started to blow-- HORRIBLY-- I was standing by David Montgomery and he wisely moved close to some shelter.  I couldn't because I was painting with a pond in the front of me and had decided to put it in the painting- so I was stuck.  My umbrella flew off- and I retrieved it and just kept painting..  It's funny- when painting outside I have developed some type of concentration that earlier in my painting years, would not have been able to keep.  Also I am fortunate to have a Soltek easel that is like a rock in the wind..

I was finally able to finish..

As you can see- I pushed the drama of this mountain and I am now working on a larger version of this painting. .. I noticed that my painting is much lighter than the picture of Bristol and I really was able to see much more into the shadows than the picture shows- that's why I hate to paint from pictures.. Afterwards I tried to hang out by this cool building..

And get a little out of the wind before I started my next painting.

After participating in the Headwaters Trust plein air event, I headed to Santa Maria, a private trout club at the base of Bristol Mountain. Jim and my son Jason had already headed up earlier and so took off at about 3:00 and watched the sky stay completely brown with dust all the way there. It was rather depressing- like a huge fire was burning close by. I got settled in to the fishing trailer and the guys were nowhere to be seen- I thought "could they be fishing in this horrible wind?" Yes they were..

Good thing because Jason woke up with the stomach flu at about 12:30 that night and plans kind of changed.. No more fishing for the guys and I stayed up on the mountain a little longer so that I could at least get one painting done. Since this area is above Creede- it wasn't even close to budding out anywhere so I had a difficult time finding anywhere that was very inspiring.

I finally settled on a group of Aspen in an area out of the wind- oh yeah - the wind was blowing by then..

I painted the above 8x10 and drove home and went through my bout with the stomach flu the next day..

Cattle Drive in the Wild West

Last Wednesday I had to drive to Ft Collins as my daughter was to be inducted into an honor society at CSU. As I headed to the north on 285, I noticed that cars were stopping and I was about to witness a cattle crossing.. I love cattle drives and always reach for my camara when having the pleasure of seeing one. This was a quick cross the road type of event so it didn't take long.

One of the dogs was getting just a little too bossy and this mama cow just couldn't take it any longer. She decided that she had ENOUGH! The dog did win though..

And they safely crossed and we were on our way again. I just love the fact that a highway can get shut down for a cattle drive- it's part of that Colorado lifestyle that I love- part of being connected to the west.. yeah the WILD WEST!

Late Shadows

24x36

I've been trying to get some studio paintings done with the wind blowing so crazy every day and all. I finally finished this painting - it was from a photo I took in probably 1997 or close to that date. I had to completely rearrange everything and I seem to have a very difficult time taking good photos of my large paintings. I'm going to have to work on that. I will be getting into the field as everything is FINALLY starting to green up! Yay!

A painting from a Ditch Bank

This is the view from the back of my house.. I haven't been able to plein air paint that much because of the horrible winds that we have been slammed with lately- so I painted this at about 7:30 in the morning standing on a ditch bank- looking towards the southwest. I painted this quickly and could have spent a little more time on it but didn't want to lose the spontaneity. I'm hoping to get out more and the wind hasn't been blowing quite as much- I'm looking forward to seeing some green in the landscape.

Since I have been painting often and the weather has actually been cooperating, I decided to try to stay with it. I hate having to quit and then losing that edge and basically taking a few steps backwards- it happens often. I painted this along the Rio Grande River and would have painted the river, but it is entirely covered with snow and hasn't even begun to open up yet. I liked the patterns of the tracks- it was a nice lead in.

February 28?

Does it look like tomorrow is going to be the first day of March? We are stuck in the winter zone and I hope we get out. This was painted at the ranch this morning and it snowed on me for half of the time I was there- I love the ranch -it is so diverse.

My good friend Patrice Walker called and said she would be coming through the valley on Thursday and would we like to paint? So Coni Grant and David Montgomery and Patrice and I ended up painting at an area close to the Alamosa Golf course- it was cold and windy and grey- this is a view to the northwest - I think the buildings in the background are the from the old dairy.

The DIA Dunes exhibition is finished showing in Denver so is now getting shipped to The Alamosa Regional Medical Center for an extended exhibition. This is the painting I plan to exhibit as one painting sold in Denver and the other painting has already been exhibited during the artwalk in Alamosa. I plan to make a quick switcheroo after the exhibit makes it's way down. I just wanted to have something fresh to display-- this is entitled "Dunes - Clear Day" and is 18x24.

Trip to Amalia

Coni, David, and I drove over to Amalia, New Mexico, to visit with Randy Pijoan about having a painting group stay there ( the High Desert Painters) in May and of course we went to paint as well. It was rather chilly but we were well dressed and being the tough plein air painters that we are, were not deterred from painting. Then the wind started to blow just a bit and it just got cold... David walked up the road to check things out and we did not see him for a long time so Coni and finished up and found refuge in Randy's studio. David and Randy had been driving around looking at potential painting spots for the May trip. Amalia is absolutely a beautiful area - even in the winter- which is the true test of a nice painting spot.

12x16

This is the painting that I did -- right across the road from Randy's studio- I forgot to ask him what the name of this creek so it is titled Creek at Amalia.

Snow Shadows

In the earlier post I had talked about picking a motif and keeping things simple. I had worked out a small sketch of a painting that I wanted to do - here is the result-- this painting is 12x24.