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.

A Day in Amalia- Brrrrrr

Three diehards from San Luis Valley all went down to Amalia, NM, a week or so ago:
Dave Montgomery, Sue McCullough and myself, on a field trip to visit Randy Pijoan who has his home and studio there. It is beautiful country just south of the Colorado border, north of Taos. We took a chance on a break in the weather - which paid off, but the morning was desperately cold - and how cold is that? Well, it was -5 when we drove out of my driveway and I know it must have been warmer by the time we got down there and set up
. . . . but, not much.
I think I hit my cold threshold; and I am giving up on those 'chewy' granola bars - they turn into little frozen crumbles. Sue did a little better and was still out and finishing up after I had gone to the car.
Go to her blog - she took it much more in stride and finished with a nice piece.The photo to the right shows my kit and my view and underneath is the finished
12"x 9" painting.
After about 2 hours of painting we all went up to Randy's studio to warm up, thaw out, and eat lunch. About that time the sky cleared off for a spectacular day, but the wind also picked up.
No winning here. What we got, we earned.

Happy Painting New Year

The New Year brought plenty of cold temps to my part of Colorado. It has been a time to regroup, set goals, get the kids back to school, and get over a cold.
I don't know which is worse being sick or having cabin fever. It was 12 degrees in Alamosa Friday morning and everything was wrapped in a blanket of fog making the trees white with frost. The need to get OUT won over need to stay home - cold or no cold. Sue McCullough and I were determined to find something to paint and tho' it was snowing on the road out of the valley, we pressed on and were rewarded with sunshine as we drove up LaVeta Pass. We turned the Cruiser off on Old LaVeta Pass road and it wasn't long before were into deep snow.
At the top of the old pass we found the little village of Up Top bravely holding its own against time. Up Top Chapel sits snug against the forest and we positioned ourselves across the road in front of a building that captured the morning sun and what warmth that could be had. We were met with passing cross-country skiers, craftsmen at work on old buildings and some friendly dogs - probably owned by the one or two actual residents.
This little trip did not aid my physical recovery - Saturday I was in bed, but a day spent out in the beautiful winter landscape was a priceless mental tonic; SO worth it and the whole world looks better to me knowing a painting is in the can.
Happy New Year!

Up to Our Wheelwells

High hopes and good intentions led Sue McCullough and I up into the mountains Friday. The Alamosa River Canyon road was almost a tunnel of snow and we had a few dicey moments in a snow bank as we pulled aside to let an oncoming car pass - Whoa! - the Cruiser didn't fail us tho' and we got back on the road and continued up to Jasper, a little gathering of cabins; charming and on this day absolutely silent under their snow blanket. We needed our snow shoes to get into the landscape but even if we'd had them, there was no place to safely park the car.
So frustrating! It is a beautiful day, pretty calm and a steady 25 degrees; the views are there, we just could not get to them.
So, no painting to show for the day ; very discouraging.
Tho' not a new piece - this is one I painted last year, just about this time of year in Alamosa River Canyon - except I think it was lots colder.

Time to Get Out in the Cold

There have been several storms blow through recently leaving lots of fresh snow - just what I have been waiting for. We have about 4 inches on the ground in Alamosa but much more on the western side of the valley. My painting friend, in all things "plein air", Sue McCullough, has been busy working/slaving on her studio all season (check out that progress on her blog), but we agreed to go out once there was snow . Well, a snow fall and some sad business took us up to South Fork where we picked up paintings and commiserated with Jan Bock who ran the Mountain Artisans Gallery there. A sweet little gallery that represented over 30 artists had to close suddenly when the landlord decided to close the real estate office that shared the building. She had less than 2 weeks to clear out - and right before Christmas; a sad day. We stopped in Del Norte and painted this little church - fortunately, in the middle of the day when the temps got up to about 15. We were a stiff, understandably, this was our first day out in the snow since last spring. In the summer and fall, you forget - just how hard it can be: to paint with mits, stand in 10 inches of snow - drag very stiff paint over the panel.
I also forgot how quickly things freeze and when I added water to the acrylic that I use for an under painting, my panel instantly became a skating rink - Hmmmmm.
Oh yes, it is all coming back to me now.
Note to self: next time thin the paint with your coffee.