Quiet Times

November is not the nicest month in Colorado; fall colors are gone and the real cold is setting in. It is good time to sort out things in my studio and go through the chaos on my drafting table: half baked ideas and sketches done in a flash of inspiration that got trumped by any opportunity to "go out" and paint.
The piece below is one of those ideas, based on a plein air piece that sold quite awhile back. The idea for a large Gorge painting has been in my head for months - and I needed to shake it out; for better or worse. Two weeks ago I dove into this 24"x 36" piece and this week, in an effort to get it dry, I drove around for several days with it in the back window of my car. More about that later.


Once there is snow on the ground I will be anxious to get back out into the landscape, but for the moment I am trying to make the most of a few quiet weeks.
I find that during a period of working mainly en plein air, things come up that either work or don't and there isn't always time to really do any serious thinking about what is needed. For me - the only way to address some problems is to spend time in the studio: looking, thinking, painting.
That also means going through the work of the past few months with a critical eye for some serious editing and destroying work that is not up to speed.
Ah...... and at the bottom of the pile of papers on my desk is the abandoned sketch for a commission due at Christmas. YIKES.
No more putting that off.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Art Opening in Lone Tree

The 2011 Lone Tree Art Exhibition and Sale opens today, Saturday, November 12, with a Cocktail Reception from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, at the Lone Tree Arts Center.
10075 Commons Street, Lone Tree, CO 80124
303.707.1818


Lone Tree is south of Denver, and about 15 minutes north of Castle Rock off I 25.
I will be there with my work and you are invited to join me at the show , view and purchase great work, and enjoy a performance by a Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra quintet. That's a nice twist to the usual art opening - and of course, there will be food.
This juried show is presented by the Lone Tree Arts Commission and the Exhibition hangs in the beautiful lobby of the fabulous new Lone Tree Arts Center. The show will remain on display through December 31, 2011.

Season Ender

New classes will start this week in the studio and my Plein air classes are over for the season. It is always a little sad but that is tempered by gray trees and mornings that are below freezing.
This 6"x 8" was done out on the river here in Alamosa.
Pre-Christmas seems to be a good time for small pieces: they go quickly in galleries and are very useful for Christmas fundraisers and miniature shows.

Ghost Ranch Paintings

I finally got to posting all 5 paintings that I did at Ghost Ranch New Mexico. We were lucky enough to be there with a full moon. Those 2 moon pieces are only 6"x 8".
Our plein air season in Colorado is coming to an end. Now we wait for snow.

And another note on Ann Templeton; probably not the last.
There is so much to say that I don't even know where to start - but at this moment what I really feel is just gratitude: for her time, her generosity in art and friendship. What she gave me in inspiration and wisdom - is a resource that I will tap into for the rest of my life.
Thanks Ann.

Ann Templeton

I wrote the last post on Monday morning and have just now learned that Ann died on Monday evening.
We have lost a wonderful and generous - teacher, mentor, friend,
and a great light has gone out in our painting universe.

Ann Templeton and Ghost Ranch

Last week I drove down to New Mexico for my annual Fall pilgrimage to Ghost Ranch. For almost 10 years I have been privileged to study with Ann Templeton, be mentored by her and know her as friend. The High Desert Painters, international plein air group, to which Ann and myself belong, was formed at Ghost Ranch. People associate this area with Georgia O'Keefe but for me, every view is owned by Ann.
This year I met with 2 of the High Desert Painters, Judy Howells from California and Nelson Hubley from Novia Scotia. Ann could not join us however, or come to teach the workshop there, for which she has become so well known. Ann is in Texas battling lung cancer.
It was a sad and somewhat meditative paint out.
Ann, our love and prayers go out to you and for you.

The small piece below was the first piece I painted on Monday morning. I have seen Ann paint this view, so many times in demonstration situations. The one painting that I own of hers, was painted from the same spot. It's Ann's View.

Class Notes: Reworking and Good Design

I like the idea of reworking a loser painting because - well, there is nothing to lose. This little 6"x 12" painting was done at the end of August; Dave Montgomery, Sue McCullough and myself drove up toward LaVeta Pass with the intention of capturing the blooming chamisa (lovely to look at - bad for allergies). The three of us had just been a week painting in Rocky Mountain National Park and felt very sure this humble subject would make for an easy painting day. Ha!
I approached the chamisa landscape as pattern - good idea but poorly executed- and was not happy with the abstract design when I was done. As so often happens when you are "out there" - the view takes over your design sense and the result is a bust.
By the time I got home, after a warm morning, the paint had pretty well set up. When I scraped down the chamisa field shape, the paint came off leaving striated lines that can be seen clearly in the photos below. Disgusted, I tossed the whole thing aside.





















About a week later, I took another look at my little panel and wondered if those scrape marks might create a nice background texture.
Technique-y tricks aside (that would be scrape marks), what the painting really needed was a design that worked.
So, using as few strokes of paint as possible, I tried to create a pattern of color that would lead the viewer's eye back through the chamisa field, and create a tension that moved the eye back and forth between the upper left area and the lower right area.


















In the end, a little paint or a lot, total redo or a simple tweaking of certain elements, it all comes down to good design. The challenge is to avoid letting the view derail our good design sense.

Class Notes: Staying In the Flow

After painting every day for a week at the Colorado Mountain Plein Air Fest I came home pretty toasted but still had to teach classes on Tuesday night, Thursday Morning and again on Saturday morning.
I am grateful for my classes that always help me continue in the flow of painting - when my natural inclination is to take a week off and just nap.
These two 6"x 8"s at the top are from Tuesday evening and Thursday morning. The top one is self explanatory - the bottom one not so much.
Thursday the class drove out east of town to a beautiful ranch owned by a local couple - the Brandt's. In the center of an oasis like setting they have a beautiful Koi pond covered with lily pads, and at this time of year, surrounded by golden Cottonwood trees. I chose to abstract a very small view across a portion of the pond.
Saturday morning we went east up to Rock Creek, which is a riot of colored aspen right now.
The 6"x 8" format is not my favorite but I have found it to be a good discipline for working out simple shapes and good design. And sometimes it's about all I can finish in the time frame while also working with students. It was beautiful morning.

The Autumn Rush Is On

In a week of painting along the Arkansas River at the Colorado Mountain Plein Air Fest, we saw a lot of aspens - and even painted some. Susan McCullough, David Montgomery and myself painted together for several days and happily, we each won an award at the opening of the show in the Salida SteamPlant. My piece directly below, of the Arkansas River, won a cash business award. Yay!

We each could enter 3 paintings into the event competition - the award winner was my last minute addition. In an event like this we paint every day and sometimes it is hard to judge the validity of each piece until it goes home and sits with you awhile. Some pieces will be set aside for future reference, some will get tweeked a bit - and others will never see the light of day; beyond this blog. . . .
Cash awards aside, I think the real benefit of an event/competition like this is the chance to focus strictly on painting for several days in a row, with the added pressure of a deadline. The payoff is: more paintings, more reference material, more opportunities to be out in the landscape, and just more miles of canvas covered - in a relatively short period time.
For a novice painter - the discipline of painting "under the gun" every day for a week can produce results that rival a workshop experience.

From Estes to Salida

The Estes Park Paint Out seems - ah - like moments ago. I think the leaves were still green, but things change quickly around here.
These 3 pieces were done in Rocky Mountain National Park during that paint out, and I won the People's Choice Award at the opening of the Western Light Show on August 26th. Well, THANKS people.
The very next weekend I was in Boulder for the Women of the West Show opening that highlighted the work of 6 women painters. See the post below.
And that painting on the promo card, was one of the first to sell.

But that was then. . . . .
Next week Sue and I will be painting in and around the Arkansas River Valley at the Colorado Mountain Plein Air Fest; and staying all week in that great Colorado art town of Salida.
Catch the opening reception at the Salida SteamPlant Event Center on Saturday night the 24th at 5 pm where some of the best Western plein air painters will gather to show their work from the week of painting.



This photo is pretty bad; falls into the 'documentation' category. I forgot to take a photo before leaving it at the gallery so had to shoot it on the fly right before the show.
Sometimes, at a event and show like this, there is just too much to do.