I'm Polishing My Saddle, Pulling Out The Cowboy Boots and Heading For Cheyenne

This Saturday March 6, the 29th Annual Western Spirit Show Opens in Cheyenne to all kinds of hoopla. Saturday's activities include an Artist Development Seminar to be held during the day and the evening opens with a miniature art exhibit and sale followed by a Quick Draw and live auction.
I won't be painting this time but that is my plein air piece - from last August in Cheyenne - which, by the way, just sold at the "Works of Love" show in Estes Park; but , I digress.
I was invited to be one of the speakers at the Artist Development Seminar and will be giving a presentation: "Marketing For the Individual Artist". A timely topic and one I enjoy because my first career life was spent in Advertising and Marketing.

So if you are within a hundred miles of Cheyenne this weekend
- Pony up!
The Western Spirit Show is going to be a great party.

Circles On The Square

Our last little square format still life in class - And then we ate the evidence.

Looking For Open Water

Patrice Walker, friend and fellow painter from Santa Fe drove through the Valley Thursday afternoon and met up with Dave Montgomery, Sue McCullough, and myself for a little plein air painting in Alamosa. Snow was predicted - I guess we should feel lucky we didn't get any of that, but we painted under a cloud cover - in spite of Dave's Sun Dance. Afternoons are usually unfavorable because wind kicks up more after noon but overall conditions were reasonable. We found a spot down by the Rio Grande River; fed by hot spring runoff so not totally frozen and we made the most of the day with a lot of good chat and even some painting. The lower photo is a view away from the water and up toward town. The shapes created by the fence, and the town set way off in the distance, fascinated me. And I should post my painting here. Oops! I have been so busy in the studio, I never even had a chance to get it out of the painting box. Pretty sad, but the Alamosa ArtWalk is coming up on Saturday, March 27th and I have been putting together some
8"x 10" paintings of the valley, specifically for that show.

Class Notes: Squares and Elevating the Simple

The square format we have been using in class, and the small,
6"x 6" size elevates almost any subject to "valuable" status.
The miniature quality of the paintings themselves also exaggerates the "preciousness" - sometimes in an ironic way - such as the sunglasses.