Hwy 285 From Mt Falcon Park. 9x12 oil

I was hoping for a little snow when we went up to paint at Mt Falcon Park but it was just a little cold in the morning. Lots of sun, than goodness, and a beautiful day. This felt like a very small painting since the last couple of pieces have been 18x24 and 24x30. Just love working at that scale. Snow is expected later this week so I will keep my cold gear handy. This coming Saturday, the first day of the new year, we will go and paint at Chatfield State Park. It should be a lot of fun.  

Road to Red Rocks painted at Mathews/Winters park. A record day for December because it reached 70 degrees in the city and the next day it was supposed to snow, well just an inch or so but still a big change. Actually the snow never really showed up. It is a busy season with lot of things to take care of.

Merry Christmas

Today in Morrison, it was on the cold side but the sun was shining and I had long johns :-)

Not many showed up, just Ted, me and Bob. There is a lot to paint in this little spot. The rocks were sun lit but I didn't get the effect I wanted.

After painting pastels in the morning, Norbert showed me a spot I had not been to before. Mt Galbraith. Nice place. I will have to put in on the PAAC list of places to go. It is close to White Ranch by Golden. The Atmosphere here is way cool. No pun intended. 

CO Railroad Museum paint out with the Pastel Society of CO, what a nice time. Have'nt painted in pastels in a while so it was really fun. A little cold on the finger tips but really fun. I gotta do some more.

Lair O the Bear in the Fall

What a cold and windy day to be out painting. Thank goodness the sun was shining. After a quick sketch I set up my fly rod and caught a nice little brook trout, how fun is that. I think I will set up more painting sessions near streams and rivers. Maybe the Blue next or the Platte. 

Red Rocks N. Parking Lot

The weather forecast was for rain and possible snow but the morning had just enough good weather for a few of us to get our paintings in before the afternoon weather turns wintry. You gotta love Colorado.

Highline Canal aka Blackmer Common

What a beautiful day. Cold in the morning and cool by mid-day and warm by lunch. Just love it. Only a few showed up to paint but they were not disappointed. Lots of joggers and hikers and even a horse. Maybe I should have included them. Maybe next time.

Bear Creek Path

It has been a little while since I updated this blog. It has been really busy. I am looking forward to some slower paced activity so I can get busy painting. Today at Bear Creek green belt the sun was out but the wind was COLD. I wasn't prepared for the wind coming off of the pond and freezing my fingers. Just a taste of winter looming around the corner. I had better get my cold weather gear out. This painting was a little disappointing because there was to be a zig zag path but shivering fingers couldn't pull it off. Maybe I'll fix it in the studio where it is nice and warm.

Monarch Pass Aspens 2

Sunflowers Up Close

Since last Tuesday was a wash because of the rain, here is a painting form off of the easel. Fresh and still wet.

Castlewood Canyon

Overlooking the plains and not concentrating on the canyon, I wanted to try a different process. It is hard to move out of the comfort zone and try different ideas. It is not always successful but that does means I am learning something, sure wish I could learn faster :->

Golden Gate State Park

This painting was unusual because I normally paint on a dark panel where as this one, is on a white panel.

Hutcheson Homestead in Salida

Colo. Mountain Plein Air Fest.

Picnic

This is a spot at Lair O the Bear. It was a geat day with cool winds and warm sunshine and it was even a little chilly in the shade. I love this time of year with its colorful days and cool nights. In a couple of weeks the trees will be in there full color, maybe even sooner. Aspens this year are great.

Arkansas River At Salida

The Colorado Mountain Plein Air Festival is a gas. It isn't over yet and there are a few more paintings I would like to do before the submission date of the 25th. The ccommute is killer.

Eldorado Springs

Painted from a photograph this painting is a result of a great morning of taking pictures. Lots of paintings will come from this set of photos.

What a great day!! Instead of going to the Highline canal I wanted to get the last painting completed for the Golden Triangle Museum District Denver Plein Air Arts Festival. whooee. what a name. This painting will be submitted to be juried in and hopefully it will get some "air time" on a wall in the Denver Library. Oh by the way the name for the last painting submitted has been changed from Clouds and Aspen to Red Aspen. I confuse my self so easily.

Clouds and Aspen 24x30 oil

Leslie at Cherry Creek 11x14 oil

Here are a couple of paintings that have been created in the last couple of weeks. It is a busy season and I need to get some paint on. he he he. The weather was perfect. The sun was warm the breeze was cool and the scenery was inspiring. Leslie told me that she thinks this is the first time in the many years she has been painting that she was the subject of a painting.

Sand Creek Park looking east. A nice little trial that will be nice to visit again in the fall when the cotton woods start to change color. The trail is pretty long and I will need to get the bicycle out to see what is lurking around the corners. It goes from Quebec to Potomac I think. Well worth taking the camera along.

Sand Creek Park looking west.

The paint out at Wash park was a lot of fun. We painted in the morning and the afternoon. More showed up for the am session than did the pm but that is OK, it was our first time and it will take some time to get used to the 2 painting a day challenge. Normally I face the opposite direction how ever this house in the shadow with the light coming through the trees caught my interest.

Bubble Gum

Whoo whee, what a fun time. I cut my teeth on abstract paintings and getting to revisit what I call fun stuff was a joy and a half. And,,, to win Best of Show at the Edge of Abstraction show in Evergreen was just awesome. All I can say is thank you.

Here is the Audubon Cener painting after it has had a chance to cool off and get painted over.

This painting gave me grief. The under painting wouldn't stay where I told it to and the upper paint insisted on melting away. It was hot, hot, hot. Maybe I will put this one in the ice-box and tackle it when it cools down. :-}

Observatory Park

Como, CO

Silver Plume, CO

Here is a studio painting, 11x14 that I wanted to share. It is going up to the Grand Lake Gallery. It is called Hotel Row.

Genesee Park is a lot larger than it looks. I went looking for the Buffalo but they were not around, but getting to the back side of the valley was a lot of fun. It was a little difficult for a few artists to find us since it is a big area. Next time I will be more specific as to location. I settled on this little spot looking back towards the highway. It is just over the treeline. :-) I wanted something simple to practice color matching. It is always amazing how things look differently from outside to inside to on the spot color to shadow to time of day. I thought I nailed the color of the foreground but it sure looks different back at the studio. Relative color vs. spot on color is always a challenge.

What a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and animals were showing off their finest. My artist friend Sheri and I had a great time walking around the zoo and talking art and taking pictures and just having a great time. I did some sketches close to noon and then had to go home to do some chores but what a great day. There is so much to see and paint. I think I have spotted a couple of places that would make great paintings. The flamingos come to mind and the happy cat is another. I will need to learn to paint really fast because as I was sketching the subject would move just as I needed to get the important shapes.

Here we are at the Lair O the Bear open space park. What a great space. Have painted here many times and just love the variety of trees and terrain. It is really lush with tall grasses every where. I guess, because it is the start of summer. This painting of the stream was a challenge. I never painted river rock before but have wanted to for a long time. I never thought I could, so I gave it a try. Not bad for a first try. I could work on some stronger shapes and define the temperature changes, but not bad for a first time.  

Here are 2 paintings completed en plein air in Helper UT. The workshop there was really intense with bright sunshine and long days of immersion in plein air painting with Doug Braithwaite. I just loved it. The other artists were personable and a lot of fun to get along with. Great conversations on and about art which was thick with instruction and inspiration. I highly recommend any one interested in improving their skills to take advantage of this work shop. The 3 major artists who teach there are more than just capable, they are the professionals of there fields. Dave Dornan, simply amazing, Paul Davis has command of drawing and figures, Doug Braithwaite who paints landscapes with such ease it makes other artists jealous. I said I would write a daily blog about this workshop, but the information was so vast I could barely keep notes let alone write a blog, besides I couldn't log on to my network to write about it, which is a good thing because at the end of the day, around 10 or 11 at night (and a few beers) I was totally exhausted. Oh, to be young again and get by on 4 hours of sleep. If circumstances allow I will be back to this little, tiny, railroad town to take more instruction.

Iris Gardens, an over whelming sea of color. I love it. The weather was a little cloudy and the colors were popping out of the ground, like neon. If you have never been there I highly recommend going, especially now when the flowers are in bloom. The past few days have been hot, in the unforgiving sun, but today, with the clouds, the temperature was just right. I love Iris flowers and the colors and variety was breath taking. How much fun can you have, painting in a sea of color.

After having our 5 minutes of spring, the summer season is a welcome change. It might get old around august but for now the sun and warmth is much better than the wind that has plagued me the past few weeks. Confluence park is a fun place to paint. Lots of compositions to choose from and the people moving around gives the sense that the city is alive and well.

Prairie Canyon Ranch is just south of Castle Wood Canyon and is a wonderful place to paint. There were cows, horses, ranch buildings, barns and LOTS of wind. The camaraderie with Dennis Rhoades, Terry Ludwig, Mike Ray, Norbert Nagel and many more artists all enjoying the beautiful day is what makes plein air painting so much fun. Oh yea, and painting too. This was hosted by PAAC and unfortunately Leslie Allen couldn't be here because she is visiting family. The next time I will definitely plan on staying longer. Nobody told me they bring beer. oof    :-)

Here is something from the studio. It is a 24x30 oil of Colfax Ave. Just something for you to look at.

This is the painting at Botanic Gardens with a Henry Moore Sculpture in the background. What a beautiful day with art in the Gardens and kids everywhere. Didn't paint the kids, maybe next time. This time I was over whelmed with the Moore sculptures. It takes me back to art school and is really motivating, I want to paint some abstracts and non objectives (expressionist) canvas'. Next week we meet at Confluence park.

Prospect Park was a little overcast but the painting was fun. This little oil sketch was created with lots of greys in the background though it doesn't show it here. Really moody.

Saturday was a paint out with the Pastel Society of Colorado. We were supposed to go to Rocky Mountain National Park but since the call ahead, said there was 2 feet of snow on the ground, it might be better to stay closer to Denver. We all met at Delaney Farms in Aurora. I have painted here before and I am starting to like it more and more. As I get better with seeing the potential for shape relations and the location being close to home, this place gets more and more attractive. I love pastels. There is such a surprise at each painting because I don't try to match each color or value but have to decide to use what I have to make the painting work. Maybe there is a life lesson here. Be happy with what you have.

Windy, windy, windy, but we painted any way. Any place in the open was not the place to be. So most of us went to the back streets where there was some shelter from the wind. It was nice and warm but the wind made for precarious conditions. This painting was done with one hand on the panel and the other hand with a paint brush. I think I got some sun. Better pack the sun screen next time. :-)

Wow, what a beautiful day. Ya gotta love Colorado. Here at the Colorado Rail Road Museum in Golden, there is so much to make a painting of that it gets hard to settle on just one spot. As I get braver I will try paint larger and include more and more. Spent most of the morning taking pictures and enjoying the cars and cabooses and engines. This quick sketch was all I had time to do before heading back to work. I think it has the potential becoming a finished piece, if I get the time. It is a qwerky little crane that just wanted to be painted.

Here at Sterne Park the weather was pre-rain. It seemed like the clouds would open up and start drizzling any moment. But we got lucky. It stayed cloudy, but not wet. It is a challenge for me to paint a gray day. I know the colors are more intense and the values are closer together but still, its a gray day. Its OK though because it helps me appreciate the many sunny days. There are tulips and daffodils blooming everywhere so Spring is just beginning.

The week of the 6th was windy at Rky Mnt Arsenal and this week it was even more windy. Although the sky was blue and the temperature was pretty good, the morning wind made painting a very difficult task, so Nick and I went for coffee. Here is a painting that is on the easle in the studio. I hope those who could stay longer in the day could find some shelter and get some painting done but earlier it was just too windy. The wind blew my hat off and of course it found the only spot of water in the entire park. he he he

It is a beautiful day in Colorado, 70 degrees with sunshine and Red Rocks Park sparkling with tiny spots of snow. Wish I had more to time to paint but the light changes so quickly. Next month we will be back to visit this inspiring place again. Maybe I could take a lounge chair with me and take a nap between the morning and the afternoon and get 2 paintings from here.