Estes PArk -part 4

Thursday was THE day in Estes Park - the day to hand in work, the day to eat breakfast at Poppies, and media day - which is a day to paint downtown for the people to see us painting and take pictures of us doing our thing. This was the first morning we didn't have to get up at 4:30 to schlep up the mountain with our painting gear and I appreciated it very much.After eating a good breakfast at Poppies ( well actually the restaurant next to Poppies- it is owned by the same people?), we decided to check out Riverside Park as that was where we were to do the quick draw and we thought we would practice painting somewhere in that vicinity.  I found ta nice little scene along the river, a small pond that would work well for the quick draw and set up shop there. Soon along came Jim and Ann Rogers and Jerry and Lucy Ray- two couples that I literally fell in love with- they were like the Estes Park welcome crew for the painters and Jim was the official photographer for the event. They cheered me on and were off- to take more pictures.

This is the view that I had decided to paint for the quick draw and thought I would practice painting.

Riverside View
11x14

This was the actual view that I painted- 

I kind of liked this painting so I decided to hand it in for the show competition which meant that I needed to look for a new spot for the quick draw. I actually would have been able to use it for the quick draw as well but it seemed like a redundant thing to do, so I thought I should come back on Friday at 8:30 and look for a new spot.

Thursday afternoon was crazy-four women trying to frame and photograph artwork outside of their hotel room- switching frames, selling frames- absolute craziness- and we were also supposed to go to Chuck and Barbara Mauldin's cabin for supper!-We made it rather late but the food was wonderful and the company was great!

Estes Park -part 2

Endo Valley Sunrise
11x14

The next day we were up at the crack of dawn again- 4:30 to be exact, and out of the room by 5:30- I stumbled up onto a hill in Endo Valley and painted the view to the east as the sun was rising- it was really hard to choose- the view to the west was very dramatic and I wished that I could have painted two views at once. Coni was still working on her painting and Peg and Patrice had left to town to get a bite to eat so I decided to paint another in the same area and so I moved into a grove of aspen and painted an 8x10.

Aspen Grove
8x10

After that I painted my miniature- a 4x6 of an Aspen for the miniature competition.  I didn't get a picture of it. After that, Coni and I went to lunch- I felt as if a whole day had passed already and it was just lunch time.

Back from Estes Park

A Rainy Arrival

It was a long trip to Estes as we stopped in Boulder at the Earthwood Gallery to drop off paintings and traffic was rather heavy along Hwy 6 to Lyons. After arriving and checking in and the Cultural Arts Council, we decided to eat with Sterling Hoffman and get the scoop on how the Plains to Prairies show went since Sterling judged it. By the time we got all of our piddling done it started raining and we weren't able to paint and I was annoyed- and worried that it might rain every afternoon - thereby ruining our paint early and late plan.

The next morning was an early one- we were up at 4:30 and out of the room by 5:30 - heading to Sprague Lake to paint. The Alpenglow lasts for such a short amount of time - very difficult.

Hallett Peak at sunrise

Above is a picture of the scene I wanted to paint- I decided to concentrate entirely on one peak so of course I picked Hallett.  It truly is a strangely shaped peak but I decided to jump in and take the Hallett Peak painting challenge, like all of the painters before me...

Here is my rendition of Hallett Peak- I think it looks pretty pointy and there was virtually no shadows- I added the shadow at the right just to give it a little definition.  I felt better because I had a painting under my belt. After I finished I did another painting of Hallett but am not happy with it- and have not yet taken any pictures. We will see if it can be saved and I will post later if I can pull it off.

We were invited to Judy Archibald's house for a get together- mostly a meet and greet- she has great views and a beautiful deck-- it was nice meeting some of the artists and catching up with the people I haven't seen in a while.

Later that evening we were to paint a nocturne- this is a picture of the place that I picked- my painting didn't turn out the way I had hoped so I decided that I am going to have to work on the nocturne business.

Plein Air Rockies

I have been trying to get ready for Plein Air Rockies after spending a hectic weekend trying to help my daughter move from one apartment to another in Fort Collins. I still need to make panels and get all of the details taken care of and it seems like a never ending list of things to do.  Last night I got on the CAC estes park site to see if the Prelude show had been posted on line yet and saw my painting on the home page, which made me jump.  I don't really know why I jumped, I guess I wasn't expected my painting to have WON the Poster Competition for the Plein Air Rockies event.  My painting "Trail Ridge View" will also be used for 2011 Summer Artwalk Map.  Woohoo!  

Trail Ridge View
16x20

I am thrilled to have my work on the poster and am so excited for the event itself. I will get to spend my time with some great friends and some of the most beautiful scenery in Colorado.

Rocky Mountain National Park- A Treasure

Since Jim and I have NEVER been on the Trail Ridge Road before, have always wanted to see it, and the timing was perfect to go, we took an adventure across Colorado.  The plan was to
1. Drive to Fairplay- then take the Breckenridge exit
2. Drive from Breckenridge to I- 70 to at the Empire exit
3 Drive from Empire to Winter Park
3 Check out Granby and Grand Lake
4 Drive over Trail Ridge Road to Estes Park
5 Take Hwy 7 out of Estes Park and drive to Nederland
6 Head on home

So we took off to Fairplay- ate a a cute little restaurant in town and I noticed South Park Plein air flags on the light poles- advertising the South Park Plein Air event from September 6-10.  Hmmmm..... deserves some thought. The drive from Fairplay to Breckenridge was quite beautiful hmmm. that South Park Plein Air event is looking better and better... We got to Breckenridge- wow beautiful and busy town.  I became very envious of Amy Evans, my friend who lives in Breckenridge, who if I had been alone would have definitely chased her down.  BUT, I was with my husband and well that just wasn't in the deck of cards.  We hit Grand Lake at about 6pm and was considering spending the night there but something was pressing us on- it was very cloudy and Jim asked "are you sure you want to go over Trail Ridge when it is cloudy?" thought about it and knowing that I was going to be in the Plein Air Rockies event, knew that I would be back in about a month so I figured well, it's not like I will never be here again so lets do it!

 The clouds were starting to clear up by the time we went through the Kawaneeche Valley- quite a bit of snow on the peaks..

This is around the top of Trail Ridge Road - it's not cloudy up here!

As we were heading down into Estes Park, water was flowing everywhere- this is a nice water feature?  Right?

We arrived into Estes at dusk and drove around looking for a dog friendly motel as we had taken our dog, Buck along.. We ended up staying at the Columbine Inn - small, fastidiously clean, and pretty cute- with a very nice owner.

Got up the next morning, ate at the Egg and I, and took off- goodbye Estes- will see you in a month!