A New Home

It's been months since I posted a new blog. It's been quite a year and much has happened since my last posting. The biggest and best thing that happened in my life is that I got married and moved from my home in Colorado to California. A completely new life and new place to explore and grow. It's all exciting and scary at the same time. My wife, Janice, who is a budding watercolor artist, lives in Folsom, California. So I followed her there and we are making a home together after being married in the Grand Canyon last September.
It is my greatest intention to be more prolific with my blog entries and share some of the sights and discoveries I make in this new life. We are situated between the ocean which is just an hour and a half away to our west and the Sierra Mountains to our east which is also about an hour and a half away to Lake Tahoe. Yosemite National Park is a little over two hours to the south of us as well. There is plenty of subject matter to paint around here and since I have been moving more towards seascapes recently, this gives me a greater opportunity to study and paint the sea and all it has to offer. I still get jazzed up when I think about painting those waves, and the wind, and the rocks, and the boats. I just love it and I love painting it.
As we explore together this new place I will also write about what it is I am learning and how my work continues to grow and develop. Perhaps a few photo demonstrations as well. I ask that you join me in this journey....rather this new journey. In the meantime I have posted here a few paintings from the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art Plein Air event I was invited to again this year. Janice and I were married on the last day of the event on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Who could ask for a more beautiful and perfect place of beauty to celebrate our life joined together in love.

"A Shady Spot" 12" x 12" oil on canvas

                         "Cedar Ridge"  9" x 12" Oil on canvas

Colorado Governor's Invitational Art Show

The 22nd Annual Colorado Governor's Art Show is coming up soon. The Gala Opening is April 27th and located at the traditional Loveland Museum in Loveland, Colorado. The Show runs through June 2nd. This will be my 10th year as a participant of the show. It has always been a positive factor for me in sales and exposure. Many of my friends and colleagues have joined me as participants in this show throughout the years. Traditionally many of the works consist of Colorado landscapes and the vast subject matter that exists throughout this beautiful and dramatic state. Horses, rivers, lakes, and of course mountains and other various elements of the state are displayed in this prestigious show. This year I decided to shake things up a bit and made the choice to do  paintings that are focused on other areas of the country that are different from Colorado but are still as beautiful just the same. Since so many denizens of this state are rarely natives of Colorado, the majority of the population are transplants from other states who are drawn to the recreational and economic opportunities that exist here. I know many friends and residents who originally came from both coasts and from other beautiful states such as Arizona. My contribution to the show this year consists of two seascapes and two scenes from the Grand Canyon. The ocean has become quite a muse for me over the past few years and its lure draws me ever closer. The sea has made a profound impact on me internally and to such a degree it has become a very favorite subject of mine to paint and express.
The other impact made on me is the Grand Canyon. Since I had the privilege to participate in the 2012 Grand Canyon Celebration of Art and Plein Air on the Rim, I had the rare opportunity to become intimately involved with this magnificent wonder of the natural world. I became profoundly moved and emotionally attached in a very spiritual way painting this place from sun up to sun down for seven days straight. I can't help but want to share these new and deeply moving places that have had such an impact on me personally and artistically. I feel it is very important that I show and display this influence on my life in such a grand show.
All images copyright Jake Gaedtke, 2013

A Grand Mornin'  18" x 20" oil on canvas

Rhythm In Blues 18" x 24" Oil on canvas