The Bunny

I have posted this painting on Daily Paintworks for sale.  It is 5x7 and to view it on paintworks, click here. I have been painting fall like crazy- you feel that I owe it to mother nature to get out there and try to capture the beauty when it is in the height of it's glory -if I don't I feel guilty.

This is a painting I finished during the Salida paintout.  The view is from Cottonwood Lake, west of Buena Vista.  We were lucky to find a place out of the wind... It was blowing pretty hard that day.

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.

Heading off to Salida

I will be taking off to Salida for the Colorado Mountain Plein Air Festival - hopefully I will get some great plein air paintings done.  This will be the last small painting that I will post on Daily Paintworks until I get back.. It is 6x6 and can be purchased by clicking here

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!

Hospital Artrium Show for the Rio Grande Headwaters Trust July 29

Today I helped hang the show that will feature plein air paintings from the Headwaters Trust paint outs at the Gilmore Ranch and the Sowards Ranch.  I am looking forward to the show- the hospital always has the most fantastic food at these events and the art is top notch. This is the announcement for the show:

Local Artists and Local Landscapes featured at SLV RMC Hospital Artrium

Join local artists and the community’s land trust, the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust (RiGHT), on July 29^th from 4 to 6 pm for an opening reception, showing, and sale of new fine artworks by local artists, many of which are plein air paintings that depict conserved ranches on the Rio Grande.  The show will hang at the SLV RMC’s Hospital Artrium in Alamosa, upstairs above the main entrance, until August 10th.  

Participating artists include painters Steven Quiller, Susan McCullough, Coni Grant, Randy Pijoan, David Montgomery, Charles Ewing, Karen Bonnie, Rita Roberts, and Karen Slade as well as sculptor Jim Gilmore.

The reception is free and the public is invited to come by for delicious refreshments and delightful conversations with artists and conservationists!  

Contact RiGHT at 719-657-0800, info@riograndelandtrust.org, or visit www.riograndelandtrust.org for more information.

Last Day: Colorado Mountain Plein Air

The last day I was able to paint in the Colorado Plein Air Festival, I drove to Marshall Pass. The weather was quite sketchy so I tried to get up and painting rather quickly- the above painting is of Antora Mountain - there are great views of it all along the drive up Marshall Pass- the weather didn't stay like this for long however so I took off down the mountain as the clouds were quite ominous and as I rounded the bend I saw a nice little view of aspen- the sun popped out just long enough for me to paint it rather quickly

and as I was packing up, the weather moved right in- and that was the end of my week of painting... The party was fun but I was too busy talking to take any pictures of the event-

Colorado Mountain Plein Air Festival -another painting

I had major issues trying to get even close to the paint out on Wednesday- I ended going up Peterson Creek - past Villa Grove and headed up a little dirt road - looking back to the east there were some great views of the Sangres but they were soon obscured by clouds. So I drove up the road just hoping for enough time to get at least one painting done. It snowed, then the sun came out and over and over again- I finally in desperation picked a small- not particularly inspiring - stand of aspens and painted them- this is the result. I was just happy to have finished a painting at this point...

More Colorado Mountain Plein Air photos

The next day I drove to Salida and was invited to stay the night at Salley Mather's house. I met Sally down at the Steam Plant along the Arkansas River and she was set up and painting when I arrived. I looked around for awhile and settled on this nice little spot-- I am amazed at the pure zest that people in Salida have for their dogs.. I have never seen so many dog walkers in my life- and they all love their dogs dearly.I painted this along one of the dog walking trails- and there was always someone standing on the bridge. I pick this chap and sketched him in quickly.

Sally and I painted this scene from her house in the afternoon- clouds are kind of like trying to paint people and animals- always moving- just a little slower....This photo is darker than the actual painting as I can see some details are lost- my apologies.... later...

Colorado Mountain Plein Air Festival

I drove to Salida on Thursday- the first day of the paint out to get Coni and my panels stamped and to get some painting done because I knew that I would have a hard time getting to the paint out as much as I wanted. After getting the packet and everything stamped, I went to the river to paint . The Arkansas River goes right through Salida and the town has done a very good job utilizing the river for rafting and sight seeing. I painted this in the middle of the afternoon.

After finishing the river scene, I decided to start heading home and do another painting on the way. I took the road up Marshall Pass and turned onto Poncha Creek Road- this was a beautiful view of Ouray Mountain and I was drawn to the drama of the draws that I could see from this viewpoint.