Shape of Things - SLV Painters Show

Congratulations to the San Luis Valley Painters on the "Shape of Things" show; hanging the entire month of March in Milagros Coffee House Gallery, Alamosa. Thirteen Painters are represented with over 50 pieces, all for sale and all affordable.     This show will hang until Friday March 31st.

Most of the San Luis Valley Painters gathered on Sunday March 12th in Milagros for our "Shape of Things" party.  It is always a pleasure to share our work with the community and people passing through town joined in our Art celebration; some even took a painting home with them.
As part of the festivities, everyone got to vote for their "favorite" painting.
This year the BEST in SHOW honor went to Kari Christoferson, for "Coyote Moon", in oil.
BRAVO! to all the painters who participated.

The San Luis Valley Painters is a group loosely associated with my painting classes. We hold a show locally every Spring in the Milagros Coffee House Gallery in downtown Alamosa.
Milagros is a San Luis Valley institution where roads & friends meet, art & book lovers, free thinkers, musicians and writers, all find a place. It is a stop for tourists, a setting for conversation and coffee drinkers, and for years the site of the only espresso bar in town. I will personally attest to this as a matter of public record.
A rich gathering spot, very much at the heart of Alamosa, Milagros supports causes that are dear to the heart of our community and a natural place to show and celebrate art in Alamosa.  The SLV Painters are donating 15% of all sales to the Milagros fund for our community.
If you are in the area, check out the show - which will hang until Friday, March 31st.
Congrats to Kari- on receiving the Best in SHow award, by a vote of community members AND your painting peers.
Also, a big "Thanks" to the SLV Painters for giving your time to this effort.

SLV Painters represented in this show are: Dee Bartee, Yvon Boss, Kari Christoferson, Peg Collins, Lara Demlo, Judith Greenwood, Laura Hays, Margaret Jones, Richard Luckemeier, Josie Perea, June McDaniel and Barbara Rayburn.

SLV Painters "Eye of the Artist" Show

 Last night the San Luis Valley Painter's "Eye of the Artist" exhibition reception at Milagros was the jewel of the Alamosa Art Hop.
I may be indulging in a little bit of hyperbole but I do think this is the best show we've hung yet and our reception played to a packed house. 49 paintings were shown and several have sold - Yay!
Last night over 40 people had a chance to vote for their favorite for Best in Show.
In Alamosa- that is a big crowd.
Patrick Myers painting "Alpenglow Reflection" won the prize. Patrick is an artist and ranger at the Great Sand Dunes National Monument.  He paints the area with great insight and sensitivity to the subject. Congratulations Patrick!
Thank You to the everyone who came out to support us, and to the SLV Painters who participated.
SLV Painters Group is an informal association of artists who have been involved in my painting classes, both currently and in the past. We come together to show work from our year and hopefully, inspire others to share their work with the community.
Thank You to Milagros coffee house/gallery, a non-profit very much at the heart of Alamosa community life.
20% of all proceeds from sales are donated back out through Milagros and LaPuente to serve Alamosa.
This show will hang until the end of April.
To everyone a blessed Easter and Passover.

Should We Be Surprised?

Not really, but the first real snow of the season- even in Colorado, can catch you off guard. Last night we got about 4 inches of wet sloppy snow and for many painters it is time to throw up the white flag and head into the studio.  Nay!      It is too early in the season for that.
To all the Class painters - I will be at the State Street bridge tomorrow at 9am - hopefully, to paint;
Take heart and wear a hat.
_____________________________________

Here we are on the river at the last plein air class of the season.
Bravo!   to you hardy folks who came out. Those leaves are just barely hanging on in spite of the early snow.

The next Painting Class session starts on
Thursday morning, October 31st -  9 to noon.
This Painting Session will be all STUDIO. Classes meet at the Alamosa Recreation Center.
Call 719-589-2105 for information or registration.

Last Chance CLASS, Thursday

This Thursday, is our last SLV Plein air Class for the season. We are meeting at the State Street bridge, 9 am and will see what the day offers.
I love this spot because it provides so many views: Mt. Blanca, the river, and masses of cottonwoods in the midst of change.
The Sangres have had a major dusting/dumping of snow this weekend so the mountains will be beautiful but it is a portent of things to come. This is a chance to enjoy the color while you can, in what has been a very strange, wet, windy and somewhat difficult (for painting) Autumn.
I have high hopes for October 17th; come out and enjoy the morning- and bundle up.
Upcoming CLASSES:
The next session of classes will be ALL studio and will start on
Tuesday Evening, Oct 29, 6:30pm - 9pm at  the Alamosa Recreation Center and
Thursday Morning, Oct 31, 9 to noon at  the Alamosa Recreation Center.

Class Notes: Summer Plein Air

Our Plein Air Class had a wonderful outdoor season in and around Alamosa; beautiful days and some stunning evenings. I wish I had a good painting from every outing - but alas, it doesn't always work that way. The best part was getting outside; encouraging long time painters, who had never painted out doors, and some absolute beginners who were willing to jump into the deep end. Bravo!
Check out Tom's plein air rig below. He has his table-top easel perched on the seat of a folding chair with the palette resting on the seat - and still plenty of room for tools etc.
Out door work seems to invite ingenuity and creativity- broadening and expanding us.
I for one will be a little sad to move back into the studio but- it's time.  As the last of the Autumn color blows off of the trees we can remember a long and productive Summer/Fall.
It is time to tighten things up a bit and our studio classes starting in November will focus on drawing skills.

Congratulations SLV Painters

Congratulations to the San Luis Valley Painters on a very successful show.
We closed the SMall Works Show at Milagros last Friday after a very happy "hometown" run. We sold 15 paintings and tho' it was a small percentage, were able to donate over $200. to the Milagros fund for our community.
Thank You to everyone who took part.

SMall Works Show and Party

Most of the San Luis Valley Painters gathered last Sunday in Milagros Coffee House for our SMall Works Show party. It was a pleasure to share it with the community and people passing through from as far away as Santa Fe (3 hours away) joined in our Art celebration; some even took a painting home with them. As part of the festivities, everyone was encouraged to vote for their "favorite" painting. The honor went to Brown Cow by Kayleith Pellandini; by an overwhelming margin.
Kayleith could not stay for the
photos so a young admirer stood in for her.
Thanks to everyone who participated. Thanks, also to Milagros Coffee House and the community who are helping to spread Red (sales) dots all over the walls. The SLV Painters are donating 20% of all sales to the Milagros fund for our community.
This show will hang until Friday March 30th.

Class Notes: David Montgomery's Class Demo FINISHED

A few weeks back David Montgomery did a painting demo for my class. As he painted, he explained his process and technique, color mixing and painting philosophy. The time was entertaining and informative, and though saw we much of the process - as shown below - we never saw the piece actually completed.
Here it is - the finished
and framed 8" x 10",
and of course, for sale; a perfect Mother's Day gift.

SQUARE Show Sales

The SLV Painting Group Square show is coming down this week. Congratulations to everyone who participated and "Hoorah" for all the sales. I received more comments about this show than anything I have yet seen hung in Milagros, so we were favorably received and sales proved that.
Thanks everyone.

Shown here are the paintings that I sold and all are were painted as class demos.

Painting Into the Night - Class Notes

Beginning in September, my Thursday morning class painted out in the crisp days of fall while the Tuesday night class took up the challenge of evening and low light painting. Over the course of 6 weeks (one rain out) we let the night fall. Shown here are my 6"x 8" paintings.
I purposefully painted
small in order to stay loose
and intentional.
You can see the progression
of fading light in each piece
and the sense of values eclipsing
color. At first, it was a case of hanging on to the light, trying to capture the last moments of the day as it faded to twilight. Each week the painting time got shorter as we headed to the inevitable: full on evening.
This last Tuesday was our last night out and a hardy group met in downtown Alamosa to finally face the dark. We looked for very simple views: a building, a street lamp and tree.
Town scenes can be complex but ambient light is a big help to seeing your pallet, and your canvas. I am not a fan of using a light, such as a head lamp or clip on light, but prefer to let my eyes naturally adjust to a low light situation. Standing in a store doorway can offer the benefit of shop light or a street lamp can do the job. We painted for about an hour before diving into the SLV Brewery to warm up and wait for snow.
These little studies aren't much to write home about but in this case the accomplishment was in the doing; and the best part is - we aren't afraid of the dark anymore.

Saturday In the Zapata

The Zapata Ranch area, on the slopes of the Mount Blanca along the Sangre de Christo Mountains, borders the Great Sand Dunes National Park and is one of my favorite places to paint. It is a local treasure with amazing diversity: long views to the Great Sand Dunes and across the valley to the San Juans, areas with cactus and pinion, and running streams flow through aspen glens and deep pine forests. On Saturday Dee Bartee, Kayleith Pellandini, Richard Luckermeier, all of the San Luis Valley Painters, spent the morning painting en plein air in the Zapata. Puck, Richard's faithful friend also came along, enjoyed a swim in the lake, a chase in the woods and put up with a little water color instruction.
It was morning well spent - especially for the painters and our pieces are in the bottom photo. Click on any of the photos to view them larger.

SLV Painters are going to LaVeta

Wednesday, Oct. 1st, the SLV Painters headed to LaVeta. We met Kathy Hill at the Space Gallery and she led us up to Sulphur Springs outside of town a few miles. Lots to paint even though the color had not peaked in LaVeta. It was still beautiful.

Autumn is Really Here

it 's here and the color is coming on fast. On Wednesday a group of us from Alamosa went up to the Conejos and were rewarded by a beautiful day and lots of color. Thanks Josie, for the great day and wonderful lunch.

Crestone Morning

This is my painting of a line of trees that bordered Spanish Creek. The Sangres are on my right as I look north.

SLV Painters Go to Crestone

Saturday, Sept 13th we headed to Crestone to paint in the Spanish Creek area with a group of local painters from Crestone. The event was sponsored by the local Land Trust which has preserved a 20 acre meadow along the Spanish Creek used for elk calving. Dee Bartee, Carol Watson, Rosie Perea and myself spent our morning at the foot of the Sangres on the cool, cloudless fall day. Our friends from the Land Trust arrived about 11 am, served up drinks, cookies, brownies and turned out to be very interested and enthusiastic about plein air painting as well as about the local area.