Daily Painter

I do a lot of still life work in my class because we almost always paint from life. To encourage students to loosen up I work to push my painting as far to the "edge" as possible and maybe take risks that would be harder in another situation.
'Onions', 6"x8", oil.

Daily Painter

Another view from LaVeta painted from a photo. As very often happens- it got too tight for my taste. I almost always prefer the down and dirty quality of a plein air piece.
'Kathy at the easel, 14"x11", oil.

Daily Painter

Eight painters from Alamosa joined the group in LaVeta on Saturday June 23rd for a paint-out hosted by the Spanish Peaks Arts Council. They were wonderful hosts, the town of LaVeta was charming, as ever, and we enjoyed a great day of painting en plein air. For more information on the Gallery of the Spanish Peaks Arts Council (SPACe)go to www.spanishpeaksarts.org
On the street in LaVeta. This is wacky piece because I changed views midstream. It happens. 'Garden shop', 11"x14", oil.

Daily Painter

Paintings from this week.
Plein air work from a morning at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. -See a previous posting.--The creek, which is all snow runoff, is probably at its peak this month and 7 painters went out to capture it.- We stood at or in the Medano Creek in a protected area out of the breeze. We called it right though, quitting at noon because a storm blew in not long after we left.
'Dunes in June', 11"x14", oil.

Daily Painters/First Painting

This is the first of my Daily Painters paintings; not the only one but the only one that I got photographed. That may end up being the hardest part.
This is from a black and white sketch I made at Zapata Ranch, about 15 miles east of Alamosa. 'Valley Morning', 6"x8", oil, SOLD.

Classes

The current painting class session will be the last of the summer. The Tuesday night class meets: 6- 9pm. The Thursday morning class meets: 9am - noon. It's not too late to register for the entire session or pay as you go.
We will be focusing on composition in the landscape and offer several paint out opportunities. For more information call Alamosa Parks and Recreation at 589-2105.

Paint Out at the Dunes

Seven painters took to the 'plein air' and enjoyed a beautiful morning painting on and in Medano Creek at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Dee Bartee had a tourist purchase her painting right off the easel. It doesn't get much better than that!
Dee also took these photos. Thanks Dee. Here is Dave Roepke working on his first of two pieces.

Class Notes - The Big Idea

Painting is the artist's attempt to communicate a personal impression about a subject. If you love the landscape, then like myself, you probably stop in your tracks daily to study natural phenomena; a rising thunderhead or the way light plays in and out of the trees along a shady trail. Funny how a snap-shot of the same scene tends to disappoint us. Why?
Because our eyes focus on one thing at a time and our brain says "Wow. Look at that", while everything else fades in importance. The camera, on the other hand, reduces the whole scene to the same level of importance. The very thing that inspired us to shoot the photo is lost in all the other elements of the landscape.
So, what's your BIG idea?
Simple ideas, communicated in the most simple way, are the most powerful: that really big tree, a boat on the river, the derelict lounge chair in front of an old cabin.
Take that kernel of inspiration and see if you can fit it to one of the compositional themes previously discussed. A sound compositional idea is the very thing that will hold your painting together and keep you from making arbitrary choices that confuse the viewer and detract from the big idea.
Unless you are painting the Sistine Chapel, there isn't room for more that one big idea in a painting. Communicating it clearly is the result of strong and simple composition.

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Art Exhibition

The water is flowing at Medano Creek. Its time to come to the Dunes and hit the "beach". I have a piece in the Summer Art Exhibition at the Visitor Center curated by Patrick Myers, artist and Park Ranger.
'Between Two Trees',20"x16" en plein air.