More Paintings from the Colorado Mountain Plein Air Fest, Salida, CO

The jury is still out on these pieces. I felt they had potential but did not enter them into the competition. At the top - from Ouray Wildlife Area,12x16,
From Little Cocetopa Ranch, 6x8,
From Ouray Wildlife area, 9x12,
and a view looking down on Salida, 12x16.

Nap Time is Over . . .

Ha!
My classes started last week- and just in time. When my motivation is a little low teaching keeps me on track. We are trying to make the most of the good weather and last week painted out at Wayside on the north side of Alamosa. Sue McCullough joined us as guest artist and ended up as my subject. Check out her blog to see the piece she did "Plein Air of the Dairy".
Saturday, Sue and I will be up in Salida for a week painting at the Colorado Mountain Plein Air Fest. If you are in the area on Saturday the 26th, there will be a Quick Draw at 10am in Riverside park, historic downtown Salida. Quick Draw work as well as work from the week will be on exhibition all weekend at the Virtuosity Gallery on 106 North "F" St. in Salida.

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.

A Week Of Painting

The painting week started on Sunday morning with Eldon Warren and Patrice Walker. We headed up into Rocky Mt. National Park early and stood in an area thick with Ponderosa pine and aspen trees. Patrice and Eldon both turned out nice pieces that would later be entered into the show. The woods were so beautiful and this first painting turned out to be my personal favorite of the whole week; "A Magic Wood" is 12"x 16".













This view of Long's Peak from Moraine Park is 9"x 12".













The (PAAC) Plein Air Artists Colorado had so many members in the Estes Event that on Tuesday we met to paint at Lily Lake together.
I had just about wrapped up when we were hit by a huge hail storm. Patrice and I, along with a few tourists, took shelter under a large tree and hoped there would be no lightening.
"At The Top" is 12"x 16".













Thursday is Media Day and the painters are asked to paint down town in Estes Park to publicize the event. Dawn Normali and I painted near each other in a small park. Below is my piece "Aspens on the River". It is 12"x 9" and sold at the opening of the plein air show.

And Some Night Painting TOO!

One of the best things I did this year in Estes was get in 3 evenings of night painting. Here is Dawn Normali setting up in the late afternoon before the light really dropped. You can see my easel right beside her. The killer about this spot was not the view but the Italian restaurant patio, not 2 feet from my easel. All night we smelled the food with out getting any.
Below is my take on the intersection and the historic theater in Estes Park, after dark.
It is 16"x 12".

Painters - Load Your Brushes

By Saturday morning artists are running on caffeine, cheese cubes and red wine, (that's gallery food) and raw nerves. Fortunately, the views from Riverside Park in Estes are varied and congenial. It is amazing how much really good work is cranked out here in 90 minutes.












This painting by Jeff Legg was the point of some Quick Draw controversy and also sold for about 6 times what other pieces went for at the auction. It seems that though the organizers specifically state that the Quick Draw piece must be painted from something in your view, be it landscape, model or still life, Jeff chose to paint this still life from his head; meaning that there were no vase and cantaloup set up in his view (or anywhere in the park, for that matter). It begs the question: what is "plein air"? Is it just painting outside?
I am not sure that the buying public really cares - but a lot of artists sure did - and were talking about it all day. As it happens the buyer was an artist and knew they were getting a name artist's work for a rock bottom price.
I don't think this was as clear cut as one might think - especially where money is involved but one things is clear - Jeff Legg is an amazing artist whether he paints from his head or just looks at the ground.
I wish he had.























Here I am with my piece, a 10"x 8" view of an aspen tree next to a pine tree, much earlier, before the day got cloudy. I was very happy when it sold for more than twice my starting price. YaY!
Later that day the Plein Air Show opened in the 2 host galleries and I sold 2 more paintings before the end of the evening. Thus ended another great Estes Park Plein Air Event and I certainly hope to be back next year.

Back on The Road Again - to Estes Park

Here Eldon Warren and Rick Frisbie paint the glowing afternoon last year in Estes Park at PAINT THE PARKS Plein Air Event. What a great time, and this will be my 4th year participating.
So after catching my breath from Cheyenne and running through one crazy week of Dr appts, kid's school registration, frame sorting, unpacking and repacking, answering emails - (so much for unimportant details) - Saturday morning I will head back to the Front Range of Colorado to paint in Estes Park.
If you are in the area next weekend check it out. Saturday morning is the Quick Draw Competition starting at 8:30 am, with an Auction immediately following - all in Riverside Park, downtown Estes.
At 4pm the Plein Air Show will open at Earthwood Gallery and the Cultural Arts Council, featuring work painted that week. Both Galleries are on the north side of Elkhorn Ave. - the main drag.
Below, Leslie Allen and I stand in front of her quick draw, of me.

There will be posts and photos when I get back, but in the meantime - I think I hear my laundry calling.

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.

The Quick Draw at the Cheyenne Depot

Now it's trial-by-fire as artists,
at least those with guts, gather for a final hurrah on Saturday morning. The Quick Draw is a timed event where artists paint the view, a model or a still life in 90 minutes.
Nervous energy in the air is palpable but once the whistle blows at 8:30am everyone gets into a pretty good groove and finds that they are signing off, usually with a couple minutes to spare. We get about 15 minutes to frame wet paintings on-the-spot and run them over to the Plains Hotel for a viewing and auction.
At the top Rebecca Barrett, of the Link Gallery poses the model. Below that Lori Putman paints a long view up the street at the Capitol building. Fortunately, my view was over her head for a closer look at the same subject.
2009 was the 2nd year for this event in Cheyenne and the Quick Draw and Auction really showed great growth in the amount of support, number of bidders, buyers and sold paintings. Finishing in good form is always my goal - selling is gravy, so I was very pleased when my piece sold, and for much more than my set price.

And the Winner is . . . . .'09

Saturday afternoon the Plein Air Show opened at the Link and Deselm's Galleries with a lot of excellent work and a good turn out. Awards were given and several pieces sold that evening. Rich Gallego won the Artist Choice Award in the Link Gallery and we are standing in from of the piece (at top with the yellow ribbon). Congratulations Rich!
I won this award last year and think it is the award most coveted because the choice is made by the other painters; an honor indeed. Rich is from Palmdale, California and shows his work in the prestigious Segil Gallery in Monrovia, California. Incidentally, Monrovia is the town I grew up in.
Check out more of Rich's work by clicking on his name and linking to his website.