2:30 Stop

The last stop of the day was the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center.  I finished my last painting in Manitou ahead of schedule so we had time to drive through the Garden of the Gods and look at all the red rock formations before wending our way to the Visitor Center. It was still early, and none of the other painters had arrived yet so we had time to tour the Visitor Center before I had to decide where to set up to paint. The place was packed with visitors and tourists.

 It was still baking hot outside and I didn't want to stand in the sun if I could avoid it. Winds were starting to pick up a bit too. After wandering across the parking lot I found a grassy hillside with scattered trees off the north edge of the parking area with a great large shady tree and a good view of Pikes Peak and the red rock formations in the foreground.  Another artist joined me there and we finished our last paintings of the day. Some of the artists chose to paint on the visitor center balcony in the hot sun, in the middle of the tourist crush, but that wasn't for me. I needed my shade.

At 5:00 we all gathered at the home of one of the painters and looked at everything everyone had painted, 45 paintings at least. They all turned out great.  Everyone was tired but it was a fun day and I had a great time.  View from Garden of the Gods, 8 x 10.