Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Art Of The Landscape




There is a show coming up that I am particiapting in and very excited about. It's called Art of the Landscape at my Denver gallery Arts at Denver. It opens Friday night October 22 from 5 - 8pm. The show includes four of the gallery landscape artists David Mayer, Carol Jenkins, Brenda Hendrix, and myself. There is a variety of styles amongst us making it a very intersting show. I worked hard on it and hope it is well received as anyone would. If you can't make it to the opening, maybe you can stop by sometime during the week and check it out. Many of the paintings I did came from one of my favorite places to paint; Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. This is an area that is so prestine and delicate., and drop dead gorgeous. I think it's prettier than Rocky Mountain National Park on some levels. I certainly hope you enjoy these new works.
"Colorado Country-Indian Peaks"
24" x 24"
Oil on canvas
"Morning Shadows"
18" x 18"
Oil on canvas

Fall Continued




This has been one of the best Autumn seasons we have here in Colorado in a long time. Because of the warm weather that has been lingering, the season has been extended and the colors have been taking their time leaving (no pun intended). This has given me plenty of time to get out and do some painting and capturing resources for fall paintings to come. It's been absolutely wonderful. I went up to Rocky Mountain National Park a couple of times last week with my good friend JohnTaft to get some painting in. I also spent some time painting in Allenspark and Wild Basin area of RMNP. This is a continuation of my last blog where I described the season and why it is so special. I'm posting a few of the paintings I did during this special season. I have never been that fond of painting aspen trees. I like the cottonwoods because they have so much character to them and they are massive and beautiful trees. Their shapes are varied and are so much fun to paint. This season, I forced myself to really get more aqauinted with the aspen trees and get to know their characteristics and as I did I became more fond of them and found them especially intersting. I have a new found appreciation for the aspen tree.

"Aspen Cluster"
10" x 8"
Oil on cnavas

"Early Morning Aspens"
10" x 8"
Oil on canvas


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Painting In Steamboat Springs



A few weeks ago I went to Steamboat Springs for a Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Paint Out we had there. There weren't too many of us who had attended making it an intimate group. I actually stayed in a small little community about 26 miles from Steamboat called Hahn's Peak. It consists of about 100 people or so near Steamboat Lake. The fall colors were absolutely stunning and made for some great fodder for painting. The Elk Creek runs north and south through the area and provides some excellent water scenes. Cottonwoods and Aspens provide much of the color as do the willows and other foliage. I painted with fellow artists Keith Bond and John Taft, both whose work I admire greatly. The three of us stayed in a very cozy homey little cabin during the week and our evenings were filled with anticdotes about other painting trips and the inspiration we derive from our heros and mentors.
Fall is so magical and at times overwhelming. As we approach the termination of the year and nature will soon be asleep in the throws of Winter, what glorious announcements nature makes in bellowing to our senses of sight, sound, and scents. Elk bugling echoes through the mountain side. Is there no greater sound in nature than this? The sound of aspen leaves rustling in the wind sounds like applause giving an ovation to the colors. They seem to sparkle and glow like jewels against the sunlight, until the leaves give themselves up and fall to the groud creating an earthly carpet of oranges, yellows, reds, and ochres. There is a certain scent in the air that is so Autumn. I cannot describe it fully. You have to smell it for yourself, but it's different than Spring or Summer.....it's just Fall. Maybe it's a combination of corn, pumpkin, leaves, and atmosphere. How alluring and how sensual. There is a golden glow that permiates the aspen forests all the way up to the sky that is bathed in a cerulian blue. No doubt the sights of fall are abundant and we can become so overwhelmed we don't know where to begin. As I am out trying to locate a scene to put down on my canvas, my ADD nature comes to full throttle and I don't know what to do first. It's all so beautiful, I want to do it all. I am forced to narrow it down to what inspires me the most and remind myself I can paint again tommorrow. Tommorow will provide more opportunities to bottle this season that is so short lived onto my canvas, so that others may visually sip from the canvas bottle through the long gray winters and continue to remind us what we live for.
"Backlit Riverbank"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas
The Elk River near Steamboat Springs
"Late Afternoon"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas
Mountains west of Steamboat Springs

Thursday, June 10, 2010

First Light


This is the interior forest in Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. It's such a pristine place, and in the Spring and Summer it is blanketed with flowers and grass. The run off from Winter's bounty waters the area and soaks the soil allowing an abundence of life. The flowers' scent and cleanliness of the air and it's beauty is intoxicating to all the senses. I go there quite early in the morning so I can witness the early morning light drenching the forest and bathing it to reveal all it's glory. This place is truly heaven on Earth.
"First Light"
11" x 14"
Oil on canvas

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Song Of The Sea


This is my first attempt at a seascape. The scene is in Half Moon Bay, California. The waves are crashing in on the beach. The sun is mostly hidden by the clouds rolling in as it descends into the horizon. A portion of sunlight breaks through a few cloud openings allowing rays to beam down on the water's surface. The harmony of the sunlight, storm, crashing waves, spray of the wind on the waves, and smell of salt permiating the air created the song of the sea. This painting is also a tribute to Dan Fogelberg, titled after the title of one of his songs about the sea. Sailing was his favorite endevour in life. He was one of my favorite singer/songwriters/poet. His ability to touch the heart of a matter whether it be painful, joyous, confusion, or any other emotion or experience we have in life was so well written with such visual poetry, I become a big fan of him and his work. I have aways made it a goal of mine with my work that I hope others can respond to my work the way I do to Dan Fogelberg's work. Ever on!
"Song Of The Sea"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas

Thursday, April 29, 2010

April Showers


A cool spring morning. The leaves are just starting to show. In the anticipation of their arrival, clouds are ready to release the life giving shower. The snow is all but gone and soon new life, full of color in the blooming flowers are to come. There is still beauty and serenity in these last few days of winter's past. This painting was a demonstration I did for a few students of mine on a beautiful Friday morning. The clouds were gorgeous and their cool colors played well against the warms of the trees. Great Blue Herons were nesting just down the pond from where we were. Even in the what appears to be the most drab of days there is beauty and life.
"April Showers"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas

Monday, April 19, 2010

One Fine Day


This is Mill's Lake located in Rocky Mountain National Park. It's such a beautiful destination for a hike and spend an afternoon or an entire day to paint or just hang out. This was one of those paintings that I really enjoyed. Making that sunset come alive actually inspired me. I've been coming to this place for many many years, and each time I come here, it still feels like my first time. Like visiting an old friend, and we pick up where we left off last time we were together. I wonder what it sees throughout the cold winter, and how peaceful the evenings must be after all the tourists are gone and no one is to be seen sans the elk, beaver, chipmunks, nuthatchers, and other denizens of this mountain hideaway.
It has definitely been one fine day.
"One Fine Day"
14" x 18"
Oil on canvas

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Dancing With The Stars


I have another nocturne I would like to share. This is one of my favorites. It will be exhibited in the upcoming 2010 Colorado Governor's Invitational Show. To me this epitomizes my love of nocturnes. The shape of an evergreen silhouetted against the night sky, and the gray blue clouds swirling and traveling along the sky to an unknown destination. The stars glistening in the heavens. The entire composition makes you look up to the evening sky and maybe ponder the stillness and quiet that comes when the rest of the world slumbers. The trees and clouds seemed to dance their way around the stars, hence the title. Couldn't help it, it just came to me, and I had to use it. The Ponderosa Pine seems to stretch it's limbs out like arms giving praise to God for all He has created. I hope you enjoy it.
"Dancing With The Stars"
22" x 22"
Oil on canvas