Main Street Alley

Main Street Alley
plein air oil 12" x 9"
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$395.00 + $10. s/h

Recently I painted in Walsenburg, CO with PAAC (Plein air artists of Colorado).  It was a weekend paint-out in conjunction with a show that we're having at The Museum of Friends on Main Street.  I'm not that familiar with all of the surrounding area there, so decided to paint right in town.  I parked on a side street, walked up and down several alleys and found great paintings!  I loved the light and shadow on the door and metal on the saw horse.

Morning In My Eyes

Morning In My Eyes
Oil  6" x 8"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

If I wake up early enough I am blessed with this amazing view to start off my day!  I look out the kitchen doors and know my day will be great!

Golden Morning

Golden Morning
Oil  6" x 8"
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$100. + $10. s/h

Again, this sunrise is nearing it's end.  Sometimes, those last soft moments are some of the most beautiful!  The gold rays dance across the park.  The blues and violets of the sky soften and fade away.

I'll say it again...I love our western skies!   I love my view in the morning!

Softening Colors

Softening Colors
Oil  6" x 8"
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$100. + $10. s/h

I love how the colors of the sky soften at the end of the sunrise.  I think it's beautiful how the late sunrise light creates soft ochres and sage colors in the park.  This one too is my morning coffee view!

Magnificent Moment

Magnificent Moment
Oil  6" x 8"
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$100. + $10. s/h

Another beautiful sunrise from our kitchen!  Every sunrise could be several paintings as the sky  changes by the minute!  I love Mother Nature's color palette!  It, too, changes everyday!

Glowing Sunrise

Glowing Sunrise
Oil  6" x 8"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is the view out our kitchen.  We look out over an almost 700 acre park.  We are blessed to have this view every morning (at least the mornings I'm up early enough to see the sunrise!)

I love how the warm yellow rays are just starting to touch the far side of the park!

Splendid Sunset

Splendid sunset
Oil 6" x 8"
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$100. + $10. s/h

I love our western skies!  Over the last few weeks I've painted, and will now be posting, many of them.  It's hard to look "up" and not see another painting!  Although, really, the skies here aren't just "up" but seem to be right in front of you.  It is true, our skies are wide open!

Cacophony Of Color

Cacophony Of Color
Oil  8" x 8"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This Mexican store front drew my eye each time I walked down this street in Playa del Carmen.  Of course, the first thing I thought of was the Denver Broncos.  But as in all of these Playa paintings, it was the variety of colors.

I looked up the definition of "cacophony" and found:  "an incongruous or chaotic mixture : a striking combination. a cacophony of color." 
I love that definition!  So many of the buildings in this town did have an incongruous mixture.  I don't think that any of my past paintings have been filled with such a combination of color as those done in Playa del Carmen.  I loved painting with such fun color combinations!

Store Front Fiesta

Store Front Fiesta
Oil  8"x8"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This is another painting from our trip earlier this winter to Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  I loved the colorful buildings.  It was fun walking in neighborhoods with vibrant colors.  As I walk around my neighborhood, I wonder why all of our houses have such muted colors. (Although, it does make for a calmer feeling.)

Taco Stand

Taco Stand
8" x 8"  Oil
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

After a few weeks in Playa del Carmen I found myself looking for more colorful buildings, fun streets, and bold colors.  This was really easy once when I walked a few blocks away from our hotel.  I could have stayed in Playa for several more weeks just painting the glorious colors.  These pieces were so much fun to paint!  The colors here in Colorado aren't this bright and I often don't use these colors! I was so glad that I threw in a few different than usual tubes of paint.

No Zoning

No Zoning
8" x 8" oil
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This is another architectural piece from our January in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  As you find in most Mexican towns and cities, there appears to be no zoning.  We have learned to never walk with out paying very close attention to the sidewalk and eery thing around us!  As you can see here, you might walk into the bent awning, or trip over the raised side walk in front of the counter, or hit your shoulder on the partial arch way.  Sometimes there might be a hole in the sidewalk, a missing manhole in the street, broken curbs, even rebar sticking out of buildings!

It's all part of the Mexican charm!!

Red Road

Red Road
Oil  8"x8"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

During our time in Playa del Carmen in January, I loved painting all of the colorful buildings.  I had thought that most of my paintings would be of the ocean with all of its' beautiful turquoises, palm trees and bougainvillea.  What I found as I walked the streets of Playa were amazingly colorful buildings!  I walked down this block again and again loving all of the reds, oranges, pinks and corals.

Color Is Everywhere

Color Is Everywhere
Oil  8"x8"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

Playa del Carmen does not have an old, colonial center like many Mexican towns.  It originally was a small fishing village which grew as tourism and the Cancun airport grew.  But, even without the "old" there is beauty and color everywhere.  It's people and buildings are filled with happy moments, brightness like the blazing sun, color, vibrancy and intensity.

Each neighborhood is filled with variety.  Every neighborhood is a different outlook of life.  Our hotel, Aventura Mexicana, was on the edge of the tourist area.  When you headed the other direction the neighborhoods became new condos, then colorful Mexican streets.  I loved that this new condo still had colorful, bright walls around it.

Like Mexican towns, each neighborhood in Playa is filled with it's own ethnicity and traditions.  Every neighborhood had a different look, some new, some bright, some needing a bit of help.

Playa Bouganvillea

Playa Bouganvillea
plein air oil. 6” x 8”
$100.00 + $10. S/h
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I love the way old Bouganvillea creep and crawl across walls.  Our hotel in Playa del Carmen is filled with bouganvillea of many colors.  These are right near the door to our room.  Certainly made it easy to paint!

Playa Palm

Playa Palm
Plein air oil. 8” x 6”
$100.00 + $10. S/h
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Playa del Carmen, Mexico is a booming, loud, colorful, vibrant Mexican town.  During all but the hot summer months it is filled with tourists from around the world seeking warmth, beautiful water, and fun.  For my husband and me fun entails warm weather, lots of walking, painting and yoga for me, tennis for him.  All of that is here!

I’ll be posting a few paintings from Mexico and more when when we return to Colorado at the end of January.  I admit, posting on small devices is challenging!

We are lucky to have the opportunity to travel.  We are lucky to have a wonderful house sitter.  

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

May you have a wonderful day filled with family, friends, and the Christmas spirit.

This is an oldie, but goodie!  One of my favorite ornament paintings.
"Make The Season Bright"
Oil  6" x 6"

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$75.00 + $10. s/h

Wall Of Light

Wall Of Light
Oil  12" x 12"
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$395.00 + shipping

I love the light and shadow that is created on buildings.  It's so beautiful the way the light creeps around the building edge.  The line where light meets shadow causes a wonderful juxtaposition of warm and cool.

This is a wall from a past trip to Puerta Vallarta that somehow I never posted.  Enjoy!

Looks Like France To Me!

Looks Like France!
plein air oil  10" x 8"
SOLD
$295.00 + shipping

This door is not in France!  It's here in Colorado.  But, blue and yellow makes me think of France.  You often see blue and yellow table cloths and dishes from France.

I drove around Florence, CO looking for a door to paint.  I drove by this house several times and kept looking at it.  I think that the woman sitting out front must have thought I was nuts.  Finally, I pulled up and asked her if I could paint her door.  She looked at me like I was nuts.  But, paint away I did.  Her 3 kids kept running in and out to see what I was painting.  Every time the door mat kept moving! All part of the charm.

What's Inside?

What's Inside?

Plein air Oil  11" x 14"

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$395.00 + shipping

I love old western barns.  I wonder about their age, the animals, tools, old "things" that might be inside of them.  They seem to tell a story of the present and the past.  I wonder how long they've been standing and how much longer they'll stand.  

This barn was on a road outside of Florence, CO.  I posted the plein air start of the piece earlier this fall.  I parked nearby to set up to paint.  There were horses in the corral.  The ranch seemed friendly, and no one might not have cared if I walked up and peeked inside.  But, I didn't.  Would you have?

Small Business Saturday

Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday.  All paintings in the Upstairs Gallery 

will be marked down 20% for this event!  I think this is such a wonderful 

newish movement.  According to wikipedia:

   

"Small Business Saturday is an American shopping holiday held on the Saturday after 

US Thanksgiving during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year."

  

So, enjoy this "shopping holiday" here in Colorado Springs, or wherever you 

live and shop.  Funny, I thought that holidays were religious or patriotically based.  

Hmm...now I realize that they can be consumer based!