A Visit from the Guerrilla Painter

Last week I got a call from Carl Judson, AKA Guerrilla Painter; the traveling plein air guru and THE Judson behind the famous Judson’s Art Outfitters - supply/lifestyle catalog for all things PLEIN AIR.
If you click on the link above for Carl Judson, then click Track my Tour - you can see where he has been in his travels - visiting artists like: Shaun Horne, Carl Ortman, Peggy Immel, - me - to name a few.

While I had known about Carl by reputation, we met in person when I painted at the Sedona Plein Air Festival - and hoped that some time in his travels he would come through Alamosa.
Last Thursday we had coffee and a wonderful visit - about all kinds of stuff,  our mutual interest in San Francisco, where I am from and where he also has history,  and we talked about painting - of course,  the nitty gritty of how and why,
and of course - where?
I got to see the inside of his famous Guerrilla Paint Mobile - and could kick my self for not taking photos - BUT Carl is coming back to town  - this summer  - to spend time with the Plein Air Painting Class- and anyone else who is interested. He talks to groups, of any size - about the Plein Air Life, and his personal take on 30 years of plein air painting. He will also come with books, catalogs and all kinds of wonderful Plein Air Supplies.
I am looking forward to it and that date will be posted on this site.

Women of the West

Tomorrow night I will be in Boulder, CO at the opening of the Women of the West Show. This show features the work of 6 women represented by Earthwood Gallery: Sarah Rogers, Margaret Jensen, Terri Sanchez, Maggie Renner Hellmann, Cindy Carillo and myself.
Join us for food and art at Earthwood Gallery on the beautiful Pearl Street Mall, just a short drive from the Denver metro area.

This show comes right on the heals of a wonderful week of painting in Rocky Mountain National Park followed by the Western Light show that opened on Friday night at Earthwood Collections in Estes Park and will hang through October.
Paintings hung in these two shows represent my very best work from this last Spring and Summer.
The piece on the promotion for the Women of the West Show is my painting titled "Edge of Autumn", 20"x 10".

William F. Reese

I was saddened to hear from Don Maier, of the Plein Air Artists NING site, (see the banner to the right) the news that one of the most esteemed members, Bill Reese, passed away this week.
I never met Bill Reese personally but his life and work were brought to my attention by Ann Templeton, who is a mentor of mine. Bill wrote a forward to her first book and through Ann I came to appreciate this wonderful artist. He joined the Plein Air Artists NING site about a year ago and I knew everyone else involved stood to benefit. He was an active contributor, sharing freely from his great experience on many topics. When he posted work or wrote comments - I made sure to look and read.
He will be greatly missed greatly by the art world.
Thanks for sharing Bill.

GATEWAY TO IMAGINATION, 2010

Farmington Museum in Farmington, New Mexico presents
Gateway to Imagination,
a National Juried Competition that opens this weekend with a reception from 7- 9 pm., at the Farmington Museum, of course.
This juried show draws artists from all over the country so
I was very happy when the 2 pieces below were accepted for
this national competition and exhibition:
Golden Day, 12" x 16", a plein air piece in oil, and
Autumn Way, 16" x 20", in oil.
The show will be on display in from May 7 - July 10, 2010.

What's A Painter To DO?

Summer is gone and we are definitely into Fall. Sunday morning the San Juans were covered with snow. YIKES!
Time is flying by.
After traveling and painting for many weeks I come home tired but still mentally going, trying to rest while preparing for the Colorado Mountain Plein Air Fest in Salida next week.
This is a "meantime"- a forced wait and it can be very hard to suddenly shift out of overdrive into neutral.
Everything in me says to be 'out there'- paint everyday, get busy, plan now for shows to come, work on marketing, update the mailing list. . .
So much to do, so little time. Hmmmm . . .

When I graduated from design school I was working in the Creative dept. of a large, Japanese toy company only a few years in the U.S. and very successful. They built a new warehouse/office facility while I was there and the Engineering Dept. was slated for prime office spots along the windowed portion of the building. After moving in however, the executives, both American and Japanese met and to my amazement, the engineers were moved out of the windowed space and Creative was moved in; believe me this did not go down easily.
Even more amazing to me at the time was that the Japanese executives insisted - "artists need windows to dream".
I thought of that recently - in the light of this "meantime" - and the struggle to strike a balance between what I want to do, what I can do and what I need to do.
Coming home after many events can be like returning from another planet especially when you are exhausted but I am the only one who can give my self permission to stop running.
I think this 'meantime' will be my window where I watch clouds go by - but don't have to paint them.
At least not until next week.

The piece at the top is 6"x 8", from Cheyenne and the Wyoming Plein Air Event.

My View of Taos

I just got home from 5 days in Taos with the High Desert Painters; a group of 7 that come together from all over the country to New Mexico at least once a year. Read a bit about each painter below in the next post.
I came home with 7 paintings and these are my 3 favorites, - obviously not quite done. No time to meditate on any of them tho', I will be headed back to Taos to paint from Monday thru Wednesday, with the Plein Air Artists of Colorado (PAAC). Whew!
If I am lucky, I might get a load of laundry done.
Hopefully, there will be more paintings to post next week. Stay tuned and where ever you are, I hope your Spring is as lovely as ours.

Reaching Into Heaven

Just the title makes my heart happy. I am adding this link to my list because artist Sheri Gundry has a beautiful and refreshing website. Click on Reaching Into Heaven to see her work and read about creativity and the artist life; it goes deeper than the esthetic,
and I like it.

Alamosa ARTWALK

The day before our ArtWALK the schools were closed due to almost 8" of snow on the ground from a heavy snowfall but Saturday dawned clear and sunny. It could not have been a more perfect day bringing record numbers of shoppers to the street. There was only one small disappointment - Sue McCullough was supposed to paint with me but when snow closed the pass her return to the valley was delayed - from Spain, yes, Spain (you will have to read about that on her blog).
I enjoyed the morning painting in a warm spot across from the San Luis Valley Brewery and spent the afternoon on the town, enjoying live music, food, friends and neighbors and over 30 venues with artwork.
I celebrated Spring by painting with no gloves.
The painting above as well as several other of my pieces will be hanging in the San Luis Valley Brewery until the end of April.

The Hills are Alive

I read on Monday that Punzsutawney Phil saw his shadow; if he lived in Colorado that wouldn't be very remarkable - we all saw shadows Monday because it was a beautiful sunny day in the neighborhood of the Sangres (S.Colorado, near the Dunes National Park). Patrick Myers, David Montgomery, Sue McCullough and I drove up into Zapata Ranch for breathtaking views of the San Luis Valley, all the way from the Collegiate Peaks south to New Mexico. The Zapata area offers an unbelievable variety: long views, snowy peaks, pinion trees, desert-type terrain, Ponderosa forests and deep aspen glades. It is hard to keep from driving up and up and up, because the views are so amazing and the mountains so inviting - you might find yourself having a "Sound of Music" moment. No twirling allowed . . . .
And how do you please 4 painters? - When you find yourself having a "video store moment", everyone saying things like "What ever you want, I don't care what we watch- oops, paint". . . .
My conclusion is - that you have not found the SPOT. Well, after a little of both, we pulled off and suddenly the apathy was gone. We all headed out in different directions and I set up with a very dense wood at my back. I could hear a running stream but also rustling and branches being broken - this is the kind of thing that can creep you out when you're in the woods. Come to find out it was Dave, set up deeper in the trees where the stream widened. Of course, then came the inevitable discussion about wild things in the woods - besides ourselves.
Click on any of the photos to see them larger. My piece is just below in the next post.

Feels Like Spring

A little lane, lots of snow and already signs of Spring. I painted with the music of a running stream behind me. Dave summed things up perfectly as he strolled out of the trees, "best job in the world'.

Class Notes - The SKETCH

Do I hear a collective groan?
I always feel a little "parental" when talking about doing a sketch before the painting; like saying "Eat your vegetables; they're good for you" - maybe reason enough NOT to do it; oops, let's not go that way.
I painted in the landscape for years without doing preliminary sketches and arrogantly felt that I didn't need to. What would it serve?
Though, in my past life as a graphic designer, the sketch/layout was the way to communicate my thoughts for everything, from art directing an illustrator or photographer to communicating visual concepts to a client. The layout was the visual language we spoke - NOT doing a layout would have been like suddenly becoming mute - by my own hand; not even an option. But, what does that have to do with the painter?
At this point, my brain wants to go out into a zillion directions- let me just say - the most common thing I hear from student painters, and even the more advanced painter, in the landscape is: "I'm lost". Ever been lost in the landscape? Ever found yourself miles up a trail with no water bottle, no lunch, no end in sight and really big blisters? (Gee, it was so beautiful, I just had to JUMP in and GO). It's called being unprepared and it can ruin the day, the hike, the painting.
The sketch is that bit of preparation that can make or break the whole day. My plein air sketches are simple, small, but are the map that keeps me ON the trail to the finish. See the next POST: we left the site way before that painting was done, but - not without a sketch. That map helped bring it together in the studio. I rely on the sketch because in it, I have already organized the values, the shapes and my thoughts on the scene; the photo is only documentation of the day. The sketch is my mind on the subject.
Some small photos here are examples of the type of sketch I do -
2 value, simple, done with a fat Sharpie; cometimes called a NOTAN. I am not selling this type of sketch but the idea that any sketch - is a Good Thing -
and it IS good for you.

On LaVeta Pass- Yes, it was COLD!

Wednesday morning David Montgomery I went up to LaVeta Pass looking for some open water, a snow bank with red willows - or any view that didn't require standing in 3 feet of snow. About 10 minutes out of Ft. Garland we found a little creek frozen over a beaver dam, not far from the road. David took the beaver dam in view and I focused in the opposite direction toward a snow bank with willows. Thankfully, the morning was sunny, and we both started strong but the wind really whips up that pass and the wind chill was bitter. You can see in the photos that we barely got more than a lay-in.
About that time I heard a cappuccino calling my name and I really don't know who was the first to suggest it but there wasn't much discussion -
we were ready to bale.
A little while later we were answering the call-of-the-wild-painter for . . . . .coffee.
My painting is below; obviously the piece had to be brought up to speed in the studio. I had done a black and white sketch in the field and, as is my method, that sketch is painted on the panel in black acrylic and a color under painting is put over that, before working with the oil. The piece didn't paint itself but the hard part had been done on location, the bones were all there and I was able to wrap it up while the inspiration was still fresh.

Gettin' Out

We have enjoyed beautiful, if chilly, days here in Southern Colorado and after spending several days preparing for my show at the Rio Grande Museum I was very anxious to get OUT. Even when it is desperately cold, no amount of sitting by the fire, sorting through photos or reworking small studies can satisfy the need to go out and paint in the landscape. I may not speak for all landscape artists but for plein air types - going out - is WHAT it's all about.
Yesterday, Sue McCullough and I went out to her family ranch - acres and acres of trees and snow, the river and great views of the Sangre de Christo Mountains stretching south from Taos up north to Buena Vista where they meet the Collegiate Peaks; so beautiful and white, and big. Fortunately, we had sun and it was around 20 degrees -perfect!
At the top is a shot Sue with the gear and below that, my sketch, painted on in black acrylic. I learned a lesson after my last time out when I tried to thin the paint with water; Dumb, I know. This time, no thinning the acrylic- just go for the gusto.
Check out Sue's painting with this link to her blog
and see my piece below.

Snowy Blanca

In the morning there is, very often a low lying haze that settles on the Valley floor and the mountains seem to rise out of that. Cottonwoods catch the early light on the ends of their branches and the river is just an expanse of snow. A Bald Eagle flew over us and settled in a nearby tree. For this California native and city-girl, it was something.
Chances are, you will never see that while painting in the studio.

Snow, and it isn't even Halloween

Snow flakes the size of quarters fell in Colorado Sunday night and Monday. Nature is telling me to get inside but I really don't want to listen.

Goodbye to the High Desert Painters

A storm is moving in and it is time to say "Goodbye" to Ghost Ranch for another year. The High Desert Painters are headed to Taos to have dinner with Walt Gonske and paint for a few days. From left to right are: Judy Howells and Nita Harper, both from California, myself, - and sitting down is Ann Templeton, who is now living in Texas, Janis Loverin from Ruidoso, New Mexico and Jana Van Wyk from North Carolina. We are missing Nelson Hubley who lives in Nova Scotia and could not be with us; actually he was in Paris. Imagine - passing on Ghost Ranch to go to Paris. Gee!
My Ghia is packed up and before the day is out will have navigated some serious 4 wheeling roads in a small caravan of cars through the Taos Gorge; scenic, scary but the Ghia is very sure footed. No worries. It was fun to spend time with Walt, who is so gracious and happy to show us his newest work; always amazing, always wonderful, always inspiring.
It is "goodbyes" all around, for me, as a torrential rain comes on. We will be seeing an early snow north in Colorado and I am anxious to get home before dark.
In a lot of ways this trip with the High Desert Painters marks the end of my official painting out season. Fall is fading along with warm weather and although I will continue to paint in the landscape all winter, the Plein Air Paint Outs are over. I am looking forward to starting some big studio work
- maybe tomorrow.

The Last One

Friday morning the High Desert Painters hiked (or drove) up to a high mesa to paint: the view of the Pedernal, the cliffs, the cottonwoods, - each other. Janis Loverin had positioned herself toward a valley view and I was fascinated by the shapes of the little casitas (little cabins) behind her. Ghost Ranch has a lot of these little casitas tucked into nooks in the landscape; some are pretty rustic, or charming, depending on if you are staying in one or not.
It was a very sunny morning and got quite warm, even hot. I tried to communicate that feeling of intense sun, in the painting.

The Looming Mesa

This is my take on Kitchen Mesa - much closer and from a slightly different angle. It has always struck me how tiny the dining hall looks tucked in the trees under the mesa.