Wyoming Plein Air Event

It doesn't get much bigger than this - the sky, I mean. The Wyoming Plein Air Event was pretty big too - attracting painters from all over the country, and even 2 from abroad. Sue McCullough and I spent 3 days in the Snowy Mountains, with fellow painters, Ulrich Gleiter - from Germany, Peg Immel - from Taos and Patrice Walker - from Santa Fe.
I am not sure what is going on in this conference. I think I heard someone say "he went that-a-way".





To the right are some of the event highlights, from my point of view:
Sue holds a brush out at arms length to "sight" a complex alley view.
Peg painted in the same alley, facing the other direction. It was a challenge, dodging passing trucks, forklifts, painting in heat and blowing dirt from the cement factory on the other side of the fence;
worth it though - Peg's piece, shown here won the Artist Choice Award in the Link Gallery. Tough conditions- nice work!






At the opening Saturday night:
in the Link Gallery Ulrich Gleiter stands with his piece "My Wyoming" (the lower painting) which won First Place. Bravo!
Sue McCullough and Scott Eckberg pose in from of their work- Scott's on the left and Sue's on the right, and
Dawn Normali and I stand in front of her amazing painting of a Wyoming farm which won the Artist Choice Award in the Deselms Gallery.

Click on the images to view them larger.

Round Up the Dogies- We're headed for Cheyenne

It's time again for the Wyoming Plein Air Event that attracts painters from all over the country, and this year even some from abroad. Artists in Europe are coming to paint the big west and it doesn't get any bigger than in Wyoming.
Sue McCullough and I will spend a week painting the Snowy Mountains, Laramie, Cheyenne and everything will wrap up with a Quick Draw Saturday morning, August 14th, followed by a live auction. That afternoon the show will open at 2 Galleries in Cheyenne: the Link Gallery and the Deselms Gallery- within walking distance of each other.
If you are within 200 miles, this is an event worth taking in. Make a day of it in old town Cheyenne beginning with the Quick Draw at 8:30 on Depot Plaza, and afterwards bid on work you saw painted; then take in the entire show beginning at 4pm. There will be food, the artists on hand, awards and a round up of great plein air work.
Now I have to go make sure I packed my cowboy boots and those spurs I save for special occasions.

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.

Time to Pony Up - to Cheyenne '09

It is that time again and I am heading to Cheyenne for the Wyoming Plein Air Event'09. These are 2 paintings done last year en plein air. To the right is a view looking down over Cheyenne as the sun sets and below is a storm brewing over the Hereford Ranch.















Myself, Sue McCullough and artists from all over the country are converging on Cheyenne to paint the Wyoming landscape and everything will culminate on Saturday, August 15th with a Quick Draw at Depot Plaza followed by an auction of work created that morning.
In the afternoon at 4pm the Link Gallery and Deselms Gallery will simultaneously host opening receptions to show off the best work created en plein air from the previous 2 weeks. Hope to see you there.