Harvest Moonrise

"Harvest Moonrise" - 8" x 8"- Oil on panel  copyright 2011 Jake Gaedtke

Capturing the moon as it's rising can be very difficult. I spent the prior two days coming to this location to see where the moon was going to rise, so I could get the best advantage. I checked on the Internet to see what time the moon was going to rise on that particular day. As the moon was rising, it was already disappearing into the clouds. Wouldn't you know it. The two days I did my reconnaissance, it was perfectly clear and no clouds. But this moonrise was particularly dramatic with those clouds and I loved it. I only had about a 5 minute window to get the moon down on canvas with the color surrounding it. I painted it mostly from memory after the moon went into the clouds. Luckily I had my book light I use for nocturne painting with me. I attached it to my pachade box and was able to finish the painting on location. It was the reflection I was after, though. I believe I got it.

Aspens Ablaze

"Aspens Ablaze" 16" x 12" Oil on canvas copyright 2011 Jake Gaedtke

This is a small studio painting I recently finished of an aspen grove I came across in Rocky Mountain National Park. The aspens were so tall and the leaves were throwing off all those brilliant Fall colors. Yellows, oranges, ochres were permeating the atmosphere. Contrasted by the blue of the sky and background mountains made the colors even more intense. It was like this inferno of seasonal chroma just exploding everywhere.

One of the challenges I find in painting aspens is trying to get that characteristic of the leaves. Quaking aspen leaves twirl and turn and against the sun they glimmer like jewels. It's like turning a diamond in the light and the glitter shows off the sparkle. The aspen leaves do the same thing and it's so hard to capture that animation. Many artists who paint aspens show just the big shape of the leaves as a whole, and that's okay, but I like the individual leaves as well as the big shape, because to me, it's those leaves that attract me to the aspen tree.

This painting will be exhibited in the upcoming Colorado Governor's Art Show in April.

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

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

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

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