Back on The Road Again - to Estes Park

Here Eldon Warren and Rick Frisbie paint the glowing afternoon last year in Estes Park at PAINT THE PARKS Plein Air Event. What a great time, and this will be my 4th year participating.
So after catching my breath from Cheyenne and running through one crazy week of Dr appts, kid's school registration, frame sorting, unpacking and repacking, answering emails - (so much for unimportant details) - Saturday morning I will head back to the Front Range of Colorado to paint in Estes Park.
If you are in the area next weekend check it out. Saturday morning is the Quick Draw Competition starting at 8:30 am, with an Auction immediately following - all in Riverside Park, downtown Estes.
At 4pm the Plein Air Show will open at Earthwood Gallery and the Cultural Arts Council, featuring work painted that week. Both Galleries are on the north side of Elkhorn Ave. - the main drag.
Below, Leslie Allen and I stand in front of her quick draw, of me.

There will be posts and photos when I get back, but in the meantime - I think I hear my laundry calling.

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.

The Quick Draw at the Cheyenne Depot

Now it's trial-by-fire as artists,
at least those with guts, gather for a final hurrah on Saturday morning. The Quick Draw is a timed event where artists paint the view, a model or a still life in 90 minutes.
Nervous energy in the air is palpable but once the whistle blows at 8:30am everyone gets into a pretty good groove and finds that they are signing off, usually with a couple minutes to spare. We get about 15 minutes to frame wet paintings on-the-spot and run them over to the Plains Hotel for a viewing and auction.
At the top Rebecca Barrett, of the Link Gallery poses the model. Below that Lori Putman paints a long view up the street at the Capitol building. Fortunately, my view was over her head for a closer look at the same subject.
2009 was the 2nd year for this event in Cheyenne and the Quick Draw and Auction really showed great growth in the amount of support, number of bidders, buyers and sold paintings. Finishing in good form is always my goal - selling is gravy, so I was very pleased when my piece sold, and for much more than my set price.

And the Winner is . . . . .'09

Saturday afternoon the Plein Air Show opened at the Link and Deselm's Galleries with a lot of excellent work and a good turn out. Awards were given and several pieces sold that evening. Rich Gallego won the Artist Choice Award in the Link Gallery and we are standing in from of the piece (at top with the yellow ribbon). Congratulations Rich!
I won this award last year and think it is the award most coveted because the choice is made by the other painters; an honor indeed. Rich is from Palmdale, California and shows his work in the prestigious Segil Gallery in Monrovia, California. Incidentally, Monrovia is the town I grew up in.
Check out more of Rich's work by clicking on his name and linking to his website.