Piedra River

6" x 8" oil on canvas on board
$100.00 + $10. s/h
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This is the third plein air piece I did on the same Durango morning.  I moved to a spot on the Piedra River where I had little bits of occasional sun, but mostly cool and cloudy.  When the light changes, the decision has to be made to make the piece a little sunnier, or a little cloudier.  It's easy to put in both, but the light won't read correctly. This painting was done from about 9 - 10 am.  By 10:15 we had loaded up the car, were headed out, and it started to snow.  That's April weather for you!

Barn Study

SOLD
6" x 8" oil on panel
$100.00 + $10. s/h
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This is the second plein air piece I did while my husband and son were off looking for wild turkeys.  I see now that the perspective on the roof is a bit off, I think I'll go back and fix that.  What I realize is that wild turkeys have better eye sight than I do.  According to the internet,  a wild turkey can see 300 yards, or the length of 3 football fields.  I know that I was not able to see all the barn details from across the field. I guess I don't have turkey eyes!

Yellow Jacket Barn

6" x 6" oil on panel
nfs

We just got back from a trip to Durango, Co. to visit our son.  Every time we've driven down there, I've looked at this barn and thought it would make a great painting.  This trip I had the opportunity!

My husband and son decided they were going to learn about wild turkeys.  So, after studying wild turkeys on the internet, they decided to go looking for them.  Turkeys come out at sunrise, so we were up before the crack of dawn and driving away!  Little did I know that the "spot" was right by this barn, near the town of Yellow Jacket.  So, while they were off in the woods, I set up across a field from this barn.  Yellow Jacket is not really a town, it's one empty building, but, there is a town sign by the side of the road.  I hope to do a large piece from this study.

While much of the rest of the country is having a warm spring, it was a very cool morning.  I was out here about 7 and it was barely 40.  I was painting in my winter jacket and hat.

To get to Durango, you have to drive over Wolf Creek Pass.  Thought I'd include pictures of the pass this week!

Western Shed

6" x 6" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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This is another shed from our recent trip to Durango, Co. This one was weathered, faded wood with a blue/gray metal roof. I pushed the colors and like the results.

Wolf Creek Ranch

6" x 8" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
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We just got back from a trip to Durango, Co to visit our son and see his geology thesis presentation. Any reason to go to Durango is a good reason. It's a quaint western town and a beautiful part of the country. It's about a 6 hour drive from here and a good part of that is past ranches, open land and National Forests. This ranch drew me because it had red barns, many are just weathered wood, and lots of fences: five. But that was too many for a small canvas , so I only included two. And, looking at it, I wonder if I lost some of the appeal. Maybe I should use this as a study for a large piece.

Lake Vallecito Revisited

6 x 8 oil on canvas panel
$100.00 + $10. s/h
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This is another piece from Lake Vallecito outside of Durango, Co. The treeless gray areas on Engineer Mountain across the lake, and the treeless grassy area at my feet are the result of one of the wild fires we had here in Colorado about 7 years ago. I know through the media we all hear about the natural disasters everywhere in the world, but if we don't visit the location, we don't really understand the magnitude of the situation. Because this spot is a park and campground, the burnt, scarred trunks right by the lake, have been cut down. I left out the charred tree stumps around my feet; didn't make for very good composition.

This is what it really looks like right behind me (that's my shadow.) It's mile after mile of new grass growing, trunks left standing, and trees that didn't get burned; probably the wind caused the fire to move. I think fires are especially tragic here in the west; it's so dry that it takes years to revegetate.

No Longer A Lake

6 x 8 oil on masonite
$100.00 + $10. s/h
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I am standing on what used to be the bottom of Vallecito Lake. This side of the lake has become a small river. We drove right down to this spot. If we don't get lots of snow the rest of the winter, and more than normal spring rains, there may not even be a little river this summer.

Lake Vallecito

6 x 8 oil on canvas panel
$100.00 + $10. s/h
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Lake Vallecito sits near the base of Engineer Mountain outside of Durango, CO. It's really a reservoir. The road to get to this side of the lake is the top of the dam. The middle strip in the painting of orange/burnt sienna used to be the bottom of the lake. But, with too many dry years in the west, the lake has receded. In some of our reservoirs you can no longer use the docks to unload your boats. The end of the docks now sit on land.

Sunset Over Engineer Mountain

6 x 8 oil on canvas panel
$100.00 + $10.00 s/h
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SOLD

Our son lives in Durango, CO. about a 6 hour drive from here. Durango is in one of the most beautiful areas of the state. This landscape is from our trip to see him in late fall. I loved how the sunset highlighted Engineer Mountain. As soon as the sun starts setting, the temperatures drop quickly and drastically at this altitude. It became so cold in a matter of minutes.