Green Reflections

The weather finally did clear up a bit and we've had at least some partially sunny and partially dry days. I got out to paint on Saturday morning - not sunny but at least sort of dry. I found a nice spot at the edge of a pond and set to work. Lots of wildlife was around on this cool slightly foggy morning, bunnies everywhere, a somewhat unconcerned wild turkey wandering about, and several geese families alarmed at my presence, but slowly getting used to it, while herding small families of small yellow babies around the pond. During the recent unrelenting rain I made up a whole batch of boards with canvas mounted on gator board and this is the first one I've tried to use. It makes a rougher surface which I am not sure I like.  Have to get used to it I guess.
Here's the picture - Green Reflections, 8 x 10. Also a picture of the turkey.

Snowy Banks

This painting was done in the studio from photos I took back in March.  ( See Plans Gone Wrong from earlier post)  It was the Saturday I attempted to paint up in the mountains and had my whole setup blown over by a big wind gust, and spilled my solvent. I didn't take any backup solvent along so that was it for the day.  I did have my camera and took a lot of pictures and I painted this last week from my reference photos. We've been having record breaking rain day after day this month with only a few clear days in between. Many times I have wanted to go out but just don't have the heart to huddle under a shelter trying to paint with day-long drizzles or downpours around me. It's been pretty cold too. We even had snow last weekend. Things are looking a little better for later this week so maybe I can get out Friday or this coming weekend. Come on sun! At least it is super green out and everything is blooming.  Snowy Banks, 9 x 12.

Back to the hills

Last week I went back to the hills at Sandstone Ranch and painted another painting of the same general area where I painted 'January Hills" back in the winter. This time it looks a lot greener. The bushes are starting to sprout and grasses are starting to fill in around the rocks and shrubbery. Trees now have new leaves on them. There are no real flowers blooming yet. I plan to go back in the summer and fall and do 2 more paintings and get a full set in the different seasons. Here is May Hills, 8 x 10. It was a kind of an overcast day, threatening rain, but I managed to finish without getting wet. Below is the one from January also.

Out my Back Door

I recently read about Greg Summers, an artist in Kansas who set up a painting challenge. The goal was to paint something within 100 feet of your back door and send it to his Facebook page where he published the whole set. The deadline was Nov. 30th of last year and I just found out about it this week. But it sounded like a fun thing to try so I did it anyway just for the challenge. Here's what I came up with:  The Playhouse, 8 x 10, plein air.

Spring Planting

Here's a place I sometimes pass when I go out to paint. I really liked the way it looked earlier this spring with a cloudless sky reflecting the intense blue overhead of me, which faded to the pale blue near the mountain horizon. The fields were all different colors, some plowed, some already growing, other areas not planted, and I decided I wanted to make a painting of it. Here's the result.  Spring Planting, 8 x 10.

PAAC show

I just recently joined the PAAC (Plein Air Artists of Colorado) and entered the annual show and was not sure I'd get anything accepted into the show. Thought I'd give it a try anyway. But I got one picture accepted into the show so I am happy about that.  The show this year is in the Mary Williams Gallery in Boulder Colorado and I think it starts on July 30th. Here's that painting. Icy Banks.

Antelope Springs

Here's another painting I did on our trip west. I painted this on a cholla cactus and sage covered hillside looking across the valley toward a small salt lake, with the dark wall of mountains behind. The place where I was painting is a local spring, where a few trees manage to survive, but instead of painting them I painted the scene across the valley. There is actually an earthquake fault along the base of the mountains which caused the uplift sometime in the past and cut off the valley from outside drainage. All the water now flows into the small lake which evaporates off, having no outlet. The sun was pretty bright even though it is still only spring.   Antelope Springs, 8 x 10, sold.