It's Spring - Take Cover and Hold on to Your Earflaps

Winter cold will seldom keeps us from painting out - but Spring wind will. We do all kinds of things to foil the weather, as if it were possible to sneak out under the cover of night and get a painting done before the wind finds us ; but we still try. In the last 3 weeks finding a morning when the wind wasn't already blowing the paint off of your house at dawn was rare. Over Spring Break, Dave Montgomery and I headed up the western slope of Mt. Blanca and took cover in the pinion for a view west over the San Luis Valley, as clouds blew in overhead.

A week later, we lucked out on a perfect day with no wind; Sue McCullough, Dave Montgomery and I drove in to the very mountains we had been viewing from Blanca, the week before.
Looking for snow and running water, and a good place to park, kept us heading up Alamosa River Canyon and happily, we found it all on an extremely beautiful day.

These plein air trips, with Sue, David and myself painting together in the same locations, are the basis of our 3 FRIENDS show that will open June 3rd at the Creede Repertory Theatre's UPSTAIRS Gallery with a reception at 5:30 pm.
On December 17 at 4 pm a reception will open the 3 FRIENDS show at Salida's Steamplant Gallery.
Lot's to paint between now and then and wind will be a major factor.

Spring Paint Outs

Spring is coming on very fast - the 2 pairs of Canadian geese have come back to the pond behind my house, - migration has started. Usually the geese will spend a week or two on solid ice, but not this year.
In Southern Colorado, we are in a window of calm somewhere between freezing temps and the onset of Spring. When the real warming starts - wind will tear through the valley like a roaring beast. It's something we dread. Painting out as temps rise is nice, but days with little, or NO wind, are something to really relish.
Last week Sue, Dave and myself went up to Creede to do some business and paint (see post below-Visit With Stephen Quiller). After coffee with Steve and Marta we headed up the canyon to what was the original Creede settlement and found a lot of snow and running water. My 16"x 12" piece is here to the right.

This Wednesday, Sue, Dave and I were joined by Peg Immel, fellow PAAC painter from Taos, and we met in Fort Garland to paint in the eastern end of the San Luis Valley.

Less snow in this area than we had seen in Creede but it was harder to find open water.
We each separated to areas that attracted us. Sue went after the red rocks, Dave ventured down by the river; I have no idea HOW he got there but it looked like a sweet spot.
Peg and I painted a stand of cottonwoods with a pinion - my 16"x 12" is posted below.