Amber Mountain Glow

I'm feeling the tug away from the studio and into my gardens now that the days have turned to spring. In the studio my paintings still have the lingering look of the colors of fall. This little original oil was inspired by a Ridgway Colorado view that I spotted after a day of plein air painting at the Dennis Weaver Park. I put the finishing touches on it tonight and hope that others find a sense of quiet and peacefulness in this tranquil mountain scene.

Visited my favorite gallery, Around the Corner Art Gallery in Montrose, CO, and dropped off this and another small cradled panel painting.  "Rustic Rico" is an original oil, 6x6 with 1 1/2 inch sides that are also painted as you can see by the 2nd image. It sells for $85, a great price for an original. I love these old mining shacks that are so common through the Colorado mountain mining towns. The waves of golden aspens in the background were so incredibly intense when I saw them, I am still in awe.

Twin Lakes View through a Pinon

Started this painting plein air (on location, outdoors) of a view where we were fishing in Twin Lakes, Colorado. I then finished up the painting in the studio. As is so easy to do, I found myself fussing over the colors, tightening up the painting, & spending too much time on it so that it lost some of its freshness and clear color that plein air paintings usually have. I still like the painting but will continue to strive for looseness and intuitive strokes in my paintings.

San Juan Serenade

Around the Corner Art Gallery in Montrose asked me to paint in front of the gallery during our popular Main in Motion summer event. Main Street is closed off to traffic and all can stroll through the downtown visiting friends, shopping, listening to the street bands, checking out the arts and crafts booths and get a bite to eat from street vendors. I stood in the middle of the street with my sketchbook, plein air setup and reference photo and tried to focus on painting through the commotion of passerbys, live music and some very enjoyable art conversation breaks with those who stopped by to visit. It was fun and great practice for painting in public places. This painting of the San Juan Mountains and Mt. Sneffels was the result. I finished 3/4 of it that night on the street, then a few days later in the studio, refined it to completion.