Plein Air Artists of Colorado National Juried Exhibition 2013

 Last weekend the Plein Air Artists of Colorado National Juried Show opened in Denver at Abend Galley. Unfortunately, my summer schedule of shows precluded my ability to attend - but it was the first time in many years that Sue and I could not be in Denver to see the work and visit with artist-friends.
This show will be on exhibition at Abend Gallery at 2260 East Colfax Ave., Denver until the end of August.
My paintings - Mountain August, 16x12, painted in Rocky Mountain National Park and
Chamisa Trail, 9x12 - painted toward LaVeta Pass, were both juried into the show.
To view the entire show online click this link:
 http://www.abendgallery.com/html_shows/13-paac-juried-exhibition/ 
A final note:  when I viewed the show online, I was extremely disappointed to see that my NAME was spelled incorrectly. sigh. . .
As artists, we jump through so many hoops, we pay to enter the show, pay to ship to the show and even pay to have the gallery open up our shipped work -and in the end they can't take the time to READ the paper work.
Yeah! I am a little ticked off.

Class Notes: If You Missed it!

Our weeks painting together in class went by really fast - like the summer in general. July and August have given us beautiful days and spectacular evenings. The top photo is only a small portion of the drama that unfolded over the San Juans in July as the sun set. Farther down is my small demo, painted on the Rio Grande River last week. Tuesday night we painted out at Perla's house south of town, where we were treated to a sunset in the west while Mt. Blanca lit up in the east.

If you could not make the summer plein air class and would still like to get in some out door painting - our next session begins  Tuesday evening, September 10 or Thursday morning September 12th. The first meeting will be in studio at the Rec Center.
Come ready to paint.

Class Notes: Going Out to Play

In Colorado we live for the lovely days of summer. They go by SO fast and in a very short time Autumn will be upon us - and after that, well - You know. . .
but let's not talk about that here.
It's summer and all of my classes go outside to paint en plein air. For me there is no better way to enjoy the short season and embrace it. Every day that we paint out, we are snatching moments from the passing of time and forcing it to slow down bit. 
Sometimes I think it is less about executing a painting than just being OUT,  seeing what's out there.
Some painters see the landscape is as a large Still Life; others would say a Still Life is just a small landscape;
some approach outdoor painting as an athletic event, others as meditation.
What I hope to encourage in my students is the idea that going outside - "painting from life" -  is the norm, not the special occasion. We go outside because "real life"-  is not a static thing captured in photos but in the living, changing landscape.

Tuesday evening we painted from the Rec Center and this little demo is the view toward Alamosa as the sun dropped in the west.

Crested Butte Plein Air Paint Out 2013

Last Sunday Sue McCullough and I drove up to beautiful Crested Butte for the PAAC (Plein Air Artists of Colorado) paint out. Two full days of painting with over 50 PAAC painters during the Crested Butte Wild Flower Festival. I am not much of a 'flower' painter but this is absolutely one of the most beautiful areas of Colorado and I found lots to keep me busy. We also took a lot of photos as you can see at the top. Thanks Virginia Unseld, for that.

A big 'Congratulations' to Sue, who won 2nd place a couple of weeks ago at the PAPNM (Plein Air Painters New Mexico) paint out in  Santa Fe.
Peg Immel, another painting buddy won honorable Mention at that same paint out. Click on their names to see the winning paintings.
I had to miss that paint out because my show in Colorado Springs; alas, choices, choices - but all good.

Hot and Smokey Days of Summer

June 21st  I had the opportunity to host the TracyMiller Gallery during the 3rd Friday Manitou Springs Artwalk. I painted, promoted my show at the Phantom Canyon Brewery in Colorado Springs, and had a chance to meet many art collectors from that area - some who had homes burned in the Waldo Canyon Fire last June.

Here it is a year later and  Friday morning, as I drove toward Colorado Springs, I skirted the Southfork fire to the west of Alamosa and the East Peak Spanish Peaks fires to the east, - through Canon City, which suffered a fire that took out almost everything surrounding the Royal Gorge Bridge.  Fortunately, the bridge was spared.  This June has been tough for our state and especially for Colorado Springs.  Some folks who came through the gallery were just moving back into places that only days before had been evacuated because of the horrendous Black Forest Fire that destroyed over 500 homes.
In spite of fires and mayhem, Manitou had an upbeat feel and a lot of art lovers came through the gallery which features my work and that of Tracy Miller, Laura Reilly, Deb Komitor, William Ersland Buffalo Kaplinski and Audrie Mergelman. Thanks all.

ps. Tracy painted the wall of the gallery to show off my piece "Pony Trail".
I think I like it.

Class Notes: Manitou Workshop

My weekend in Manitou included a one day workshop in the lovely space at the Fare Bella gallery,  run by Patti Filler and right next to the TracyMiller gallery.
Because this was not an outdoor (plein air) workshop we worked from photos brought by the artists.
My focus, as always, is on design, and in this case how to bring out the strengths of your reference material.





This black and white photo was the reference for the demo.  My sketch below shows how I ALWAYS start by simply dividing the space into thirds and moving shapes to strengthen the composition.
As a class we all took part in deciding how to break up the space:
#1 We chose to move the horizon to the upper third line.
#2  We connected the major elements:  the large tree and the barn, moving them to the third line on the right- thus creating a strong focal point.
#3  We placed a balancing group of trees to the left side.
#4  Even the division of the foreground follows the grid.
Below the sketch is my quick 9x12 demo.



Compare the demo sketch and the demo to the plein air piece below, done at the same location as the reference material. 
In both cases I make use of the Rule of Thirds by dividing my sketch area into thirds both vertically and horizontally.
This is a classic compositional idea that deals with both the composition and placement of the focal point - meaning,
it helps you organize the space and position subject matter to be visually balanced.

You can see how I clearly made very different, and important choices about - the horizon line, the major elements and the secondary shapes.
Both compositions are strong because they are governed  and held together by the Rule of Thirds.
Read more about the Rule of Thirds by going to LABELS on the right side of this blog, scroll down and click on Class Notes: Rule of Thirds.

. . . and this is a good place to
 plug the benefits of doing a sketch, no matter how simple.

Manitou Springs 3rd Friday Artwalk

I will be in Manitou Springs this Friday night, June 21st from 5pm to 9pm,  for their 3rd Friday ARTWalk,  - painting a demo and hosting at the TracyMiller Gallery  in Manitou.   Just a short drive from downtown Colorado Springs, take US-24 West;  exit at West Manitou Ave. and follow it up to the top of the street to the round about and go left on Ruxton to the TracyMiller Gallery at 16 Ruxton.


After strolling Manitou,  you can enjoy dinner at the Phantom Canyon Brewing Company,  in nearby Colorado Springs and view 24 pieces of oversize work created specifically for this venue, by 
myself and Tracy Miller, of the TracyMiller Gallery in Manitou. The WILDLAND.WILDLIFE show will hang all of JUNE and JULY.
Check it out; good art, good food, good brew - at a first rate venue.
Phantom Canyon Brewing Company is located at 2 E.Pikes Peak Ave., in Colorado Springs.

Class Notes: The Shape of Things

In this last class session we focused on elements of the landscape in preparation for the transition to painting out doors. (That class session starts on Tuesday night, July 16).
We spent a couple of weeks on trees, tree shapes, clouds and cloud shapes  and tho' we are working with good reference material  it is not like plugging the right numerals into the example math problem - that never worked for me anyway.  We do not copy the reference exactly any more than we would try to paint exactly what we see in the landscape. What's to do?
It's all in the shapes.  In every segment of the landscape: trees, water, river, mountains, clouds -  what we are practicing is good shapes.   Students skimp on the design of shapes, preferring to focus on materials or exotic techniques and wonder why the outcome is so unsatisfying. Books discuss the painting process but never explain that inelegant SHAPES make for paintings of the same.
I encourage my students to be designer first; be design driven, not image driven.  Principles of good design were revered by the ancients and foundational to the "old masters".  A casual viewer may simply admire a painting for it's image content, but a devoted student must see beyond the image to the elements of good design that make a painting work.   But I digress. . .
Our class time has not been in vain, if what we come away with is the simple idea that trees are shapes, clouds are shapes - and all parts of the landscape must be subject to the design eye.
For beginners this may sound like Greek - but start by creating beautiful shapes. To the viewer it may be a group of trees, a distant mountain,  the sky, or a winding river or path -  but to the painter they are carefully crafted SHAPES; beautiful for their having been designed with intent.
For every shape included in your painting- stop and ask yourself:
 is that shape - elegant, sophisticated, beautiful?

Beautiful JUNE

Usually, by this time of the year,  I have lots of plein air paintings to show for the previous 7 months; pieces that document the cold Colorado winter right into raging spring.  Instead - this year I dedicated months to preparing for the WILDLAND-WILDLIFE show in Colorado Springs which meant a specific focus on large work- ALL studio. For years I have complained about not getting enough studio time - Ha! Be careful what you wish for.  In the end, I managed to complete 8 new oversize paintings- and learned a lot; that's the upside. I got in touch with my cranky side as well.
Going OUT - is my tonic, my meditation, my inspiration - even if the work is crap - I gotta go out.
So, here it is already June; I feel like the fist half of the year has passed me by - but there is no better time to step out into the Colorado landscape, than summer - it is what we live for.
So this week, Sue McCullough and I went out to Zapata, an amazingly diverse area on the western slope of Mt. Blanca where aspens are in the first flush of green. We painted in a grove of Aspens surrounded by Cottonwoods and Spruce.

Later in the week, we met up at Sue's ranch along the Rio Grande river.  This is one of my favorite places to paint at any time of year because of the huge cottonwood trees, views of the river and mountain ranges off to the east - and the west. I took this photo looking west toward the San Juan Mountains at noon when big storm clouds were forming, but when we arrived several hours earlier the skies were clear and I chose to paint looking eastward into the sun toward the Sangre de Christos.  I love it in the morning when the mountain shapes are very flat - like they have been cut out of colored paper and placed on top of the sky. This piece still needs some edge work and a signature.

WILD Times in Colorado Springs

I am very excited about this show that just went up at the Phantom Canyon Brewing Company, one of Colorado Springs' most distinctive event spaces/ brewery.
Myself and Tracy Miller, of the TracyMiller Gallery in Manitou have put together 24 over size pieces specifically for this show that will hang all of JUNE & JULY.
Colorado Springs is a new art market for me and having a chance to show so much work, and BIG work, is a great opportunity. 
So, if you are in the area check it out; good art, good food, good brew - at a first rate venue.
And a huge 'Thank You' to Tracy Miller, who lassoed me for this gig and to Abby Kreuser, of the Kreuser Gallery who curated the show.
Phantom Canyon Brewing Company is located at 2 E.Pikes Peak Ave., in Colorado Springs.

June 21st, I will also be in town to promote this show at the Manitou 3rd Friday ARTWalk:
Friday night, June 21, from 5 pm to 9pm - I will be painting a demo and hosting at the TracyMiller Gallery located at 16 Ruxton Ave., in Manitou Springs - just a short drive from downtown Colorado Springs.

Saturday morning, June 22, from 10 am to 3 pm, I will be back up at the Gallery to conduct a one day Painting Workshop. Look to the right,  under WORKSHOP for more info about that.