New Show at the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center

 Here are three paintings that we all painted from roughly the same view.  This is the overlook of the Arkansas River by Salida.

Dave Coni and I will be having a show at the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center on February 10 from 4 to 7 pm- yikes!  That is today!  It should be a good show- we have a lot of work displayed and will have a table full of miniatures  as well as TONS of food!  We always do and nobody leaves our art show hungry.  I hope to see lots of people there and it should be great fun.  

The PAAC show was packed!

Ulrich Gleiter and Susan McCullough

It was a hot summer night at the annual juried Plein Air Artists Colorado (PAAC) show in Cherry Creek.   Coni and I drove up carrying Uli's art supplies which had been stored in my barn all winter.  Poor Uli was having a rough stretch with staying in airports all night and getting a rental car with bald front tires so he was a little beat.  It was nice to have him come to the very crowded show at Saks though before he and Peg Immel were to take off to the Telluride paint out taking place this week.  I hope that they are having a good time- I can't wait for the report.

Large crowd at the PAAC show

Coni Grant and Don Groesser

Well, the show was so full that many of the artists, myself included, stood outside and talked. I love seeing all of the Denver painters as I don't get to paint with them often - only at the Taos paint out in the spring. And we of course got to see Eldon Warren , a good friend and his wife Debra. I think Eldon and I will finally get to paint together in Estes Park in August.

Peg Immel

Peg, a well known plein air painter,  came to the show with her husband Steve Immel, a well known photographer.  We all (Peg, Steve, Coni, Uli, Erin, my daughter, and I) went to the Bistro Vendome for

desert after the show.  We were hoping to sit on the patio but it didn't work out this time- sad since it is a magical place.

Last Painting from the Zapata paint out

After we painted above the Zapata, Coni, David and I went back to the main ladge.  David decided to go paint the model they had set up and Coni and I chose to stick around the main area. She needed to finish her sunset painting and I decided to paint this scene.  It was difficult as the clouds were dancing around throwing shadows everywhere!  Then after, I had my prep sketch completed the peak was completely obliterated by any sunlight patches that had been present earlier.  I finally waited it out long enough and a few rays fell onto the peak and I was able to finish.  That was it for paintings.  We had a show and tell of plein air equipment the next day ( Wednesday) and it was interesting. Here are pictures of the lake we painted in the morning and of the plein air equipment show the next day....

Here is Coni sketching...

                                    

David is across the small lake.....

Teresa Vito is showing how effortless the z box plein air easel is.  This girl is one of the funniest artists I know.

Here is a picture of demonstrations of plein air equipment- plein air painters can be so very inventive. Janet Phillips, in the white shirt was our host for the event. She and her husband Duke are in charge of the Zapata Ranch - she is great! 

A picture of Coni and David hanging the show at the SLV Brewery.

Three Painters- Three Friends- Three Points of View

An ensemble art show is currently being shown at the San Luis Valley Brewing Company in downtown Alamosa. The three artists, David Montgomery, Susan McCullough and Coni Grant, all share a love of oil painting and offer the viewer different interpretations of the landscape.

Lifelong painter, conservationist and interpreter of the landscape, David Montgomery from Alamosa creates work that highlights the glory of nature and is a celebration of the harmony found in that natural world.

Susan McCullough paints the West with the exuberance and understanding that only comes from a lifetime of focused observation and inspiration with a passion to see and reveal the landscape “en plein air” or painting out doors. Susan lives in Monte Vista.

Also a plein air painter, Coni Grant uses her design background together with innovative color ideas to express a view of the landscape that is distinctive and contemporary. Coni is also an art educator and lives in Alamosa.

David, Susan and Coni can often be found painting together in Colorado and New Mexico, enjoying the camaraderie of friendship and a common interest in painting on location.

All three painters are full time professionals and show their work in various galleries inColorado, New Mexico and Wyoming.

This exhibit is being shown at the San Luis Valley Brewing Company in Alamosa during regular business hours for the month of May.

A few paintings hanging on the east wall of the Brewery.

Picking a Motif

Picking a motif.... it is always difficult when choosing a composition for the next painting. What should be included and what should one leave out? Sometimes it is hard to leave out anything which results in conflicting focal points -and although each one painted with much technical virtuosity, is just too much. The above photo is copied from Emile Gruppe's book "Direct Techniques in Oil" where he demonstrates on one of his paintings- what NOT to do. He shows three beautifully painted focal points- hence illustrating Coni's Mantra --"What's it About?"
Here he takes just a part of the above painting and focuses on just that particular element. Look at how much stronger the result is?
I took this idea and as looking out my window , saw something that caught my eye. It was a very simple motif with the snow patterns and the contrasts between light and dark. I will work on a painting with the above sketch in mind and we'll see how I do.

You see , I have been studying painters like Robert Genn and Stephen Quiller- I'm a big fan of both of them - and they are master designers. Coni is also a great designer and her above mantra is a good one to follow. People should never question as to what you were after when they look at your painting; it comes down to simplification.

A summary of lesson for the day: Just because you have the technical skills to paint it all doesn't necessarily mean that you should.

A Plein Air of San Francisco

Coni Grant and I needed to go to Antonito to pick up a few frames from our framer and so decided to paint the small church of San Francisco, Colorado which is southeast of San Luis. I have painted this church before - at the end of winter and nearly froze to death. Well this time the weather was much more pleasant and we found a great high viewpoint of the church from the cemetery. This church has been painted quite extensively by artists and I noticed an ad in one of the art journals( I can't remember which) by Walt Gonske - a painting of this church which will be in the Prix de West.

Back from the PAAC

I just got back from the Plein Air artists Colorado show at the Abend gallery in Denver- it was a beautiful show- here is a picture of me with my daughter Erin - she lives in Denver.

Her is a picture of me in front of my painting- Winter Survival.

Coni Grant and Peggy Stenmark discussing art at the Abend Gallery