The EVENT Formerly Know As . . . . 2010

Painting in the area of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park is always a highlight - partly for the views but also for the good fun of meeting up with other artists to do what we love- paint.
This year, "drama" and confusion surrounded the Event formerly known as "Estes Park Plein Air"- which blew apart because one of the major sponsors got greedy (for lack of a better word). And this is not the forum for a discussion about THAT, but (and it's a big one)
in all of this - it is always the artists who suffer. Sadly, a lot of plein air painters chose to just stay away this year. It was some consolation, that galleries who have been involved in the past each hosted major shows that opened in Estes Park on the Weekend of August 28th.
I was in the Western Light '10 show, hosted by Earthwood Gallery(s).
Of the artists who did show up in the area, we still managed to paint together, visit each others shows and generally make the best of it.

This is how I spent one morning at Lily Lake. A great group of artists meet there on Wednesdays and a lot of them are from the Plein Air Artists of Colorado- of which I am also a member.

Painting in Rocky Mountain National Park

On Wednesday afternoon I caught up with Eldon Warren in RMNP. He painted, looking right down into the water - see the FISH also posted here - very gutsy, very beautiful. Those fish should be proud.
And I painted Eldon, painting the fish - which I have yet to finish. sigh.

Other WILDlife in Estes Park

These are some of the other painters gathered in Estes Park last week; some painted in the Plein Air Event and some did not. Here, Dennis Reinke, Dewain Stoll and Cecy Turner paint in the downtown Quick Draw.














To the right are David Harms,
suffering from Quick Draw
anxiety,
KC Benson, and
Sterling Hoffmann whose piece "Legible Cascade" won Best in Show at the 2009 Event - formerly known as Estes Park Plein Air Event. Check it out
on Sterling's website.




















In another part of town
- I am painting with
Maggie Renner Hellmann,
Lou Renner, Eldon Warren,
and Margaret Jensen.
Eldon and Margaret stand
with Eldon's painting
clearly enjoying a really
beautiful day.










The bottom shot shows
Ulrich Gleiter painting
the model in the Downtown
Quick Draw, which he won.
Later, Ulrich would go
on to win First Prize
in the Plein Air
Event show.
Gratulation! my friend!

Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

Best in Show at Estes Western Light 2010

My piece, "A View Through the Autumn", 48"x 24" won
Best In Show at the 2010 Western Light Show Fine Art Exhibition hosted by Earthwood Gallery in Estes Park. This came as an unexpected but pleasant surprise considering the gathering of great western painters in this show: Margaret Jensen of Estes Park, Maggie Renner Hellmann of California, Dawn Normali of Estes Park, Cindy Carillo of Arizona, Mike Brouse of Colorado, Carole Gray- Weihman of California, Eldon Warren of Colorado, Dee Boyles of Oregon and Lou Renner of California.
Clicking on the artist's name will take you directly to their website.