Wyoming Plein Air '09.

I arrived in Cheyenne a week ago Saturday night and Sue McCullough came in a few hours later. We were up early Sunday morning looking for treasures in Cheyenne, a town full of beautiful Victorian homes, railroad yards, grain elevators and junk from a bygone era; all under a wide, wide sky. That first morning, after having more panels stamped than we could ever use, we headed down to the tracks and this is what we found - great shapes and strong morning light. I was fascinated by the shapes of the buildings, the shadows and later the shapes of the clouds that flew overhead.
By noon clouds were stacking up,
fortunately we were done and
ready to find lunch.
This is 'Time Passing', 16"x 12".
















Monday morning we raced the sun to be out on location at the Hereford Ranch before the long, raking light was lost. Again, it was the shapes that attracted me to this view; that and a really good painting spot- in the shade. The Hereford Ranch is thousands of acres of cattle, rolling ranch land, tidy barns and beautiful trees. All shapes, shapes and more shapes. This is 'Summer Dawn', 9"x 12".












Monday evening most of the artists gathered back at the ranch for a BBQ/dinner. This is usually where people catch up with each other, make connections to paint, and of course, eat. After wards Sue and I went out to a favorite spot to paint the sun setting over Cheyenne. Last year we took on the same view with excellent results. This time, it was not to be. We set up and watched an amazing sunset unfold only to stand under passing rain storms, not once but 3 times. Frustrating in the extreme!













In the middle of the week we took a 2 day trip out to the Snowy Range, an amazing range of mountains about 2 hours west of Cheyenne.
Patrice Walker found us in the afternoon just east of Medicine Bow Pass so we took some time to just breathe in the beautiful afternoon before heading to Brooklyn Lake to paint together as dusk came on. What a great day!
Sue, Patrice and I, each finished with at least one piece that we were very happy about.
This is 'Peak of the Day', 12"x 9".




















Thursday we left the Snowy Range at first light and stopped to paint this view looking west at morning on the town of Centennial. This would be our last painting opportunity because Thursday evening was the time to make last minute touch ups, put paintings headed for competition in to frames and have everything ready to deliver to our respective galleries on Friday morning. This can be pretty stressful, choosing which paintings to enter, framing wet work, writing titles and pricing.
Now all that lay ahead was Saturday's Quick Draw at the Depot - but we can worry about that tomorrow.
Below is 'Golden Hour', 9"x 12"- SOLD.