"Art For The Endangered Landscape: Honoring Wolf Creek" Juried Show

 

Aspen Shadow  Oil  16" x 20"

Great September Day  Oil  6" x 8"

I'm thrilled that these two paintings have been juried into the show "Art For The Endangered Landscape:  Honoring Wolf Creek".   The opening for this traveling art show and sale is Saturday September 26th from 4-7pm at the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts, Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  The show will hang in Pagosa Springs until November 1st.  From there it will travel to Durango, Colorado for an opening on November 5th from 5-8 at the Taylor Raymond Gallery 835 Main Ave.  The exhibit will be in Durango until November 22nd.  It will then travel to Alamosa, Colorado where it will be at the Community Partnerships Gallery, ASU Campus.  The Alamosa reception will be Friday December 4th from 4-7.  The show concludes December 20th.  I hope that if you are in any of these towns you'll visit the show!

Sun Kissed

Sun Kissed
Oil  6" x 6"
SOLD
$100.00 + $10. s/h

And another sunflower from our backyard.  I know that sun-kist is used for oranges and orange juice, but, I think that it works for sunflowers.

And, a photo from our garden:

Touching The Sky

Touching The Sky
Oil  6" x 6"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

This is a painting that I did last month.  I'm catching up with pieces that I haven't posted, yet.  I was out of town for 3 weeks, did lots of painting, but not posting.

Anyway, I realized that this piece has almost the same composition as a larger 12" x 12" sunflower that I previously posted.  I must like this angle when I'm in our backyard.  It's off to a new home!

Polished Boulders

Polished Boulders
plein air oil  12" x 9"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This is the second plein air painting done last month in Eleven Mile Canyon.  I like zooming in on little areas and giving the viewer a close up look at what I saw.

Tree Reflections

Tree Reflections
plein air oil  10" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

One day last month a group of plein air artists went to 11 Mile Canyon, about an hour west of Colorado Springs in Lake George, to paint on the free state park day.  I had expected it to be really crowded, but found only a few fisherman and some picnicers.

If you google 11 Mile Canyon you'll find out that:
"Eleven Mile Canyon Recreation Area is located below the dam of the Eleven Mile Reservoir near Lake George in the southeast corner of South Park.  The narrow, dirt road traversing the canyon used to be the old Colorado Midland Railroad bed before the dam and reservoir were constructed.  Unlike the reservoir area, which has an open basin and rangeland type topography, the canyon itself is forested, lush, and rocky.  Eleven Mile Canyon cuts through the plain holding the South Platte River in its rocky bottom.  As the river is unleashed from the dam above, it twists and crashes against huge boulders lining the canyon floor.  A canopy of large trees provides a screen of shade that floats across the canyon with the moving sun.  Eleven Mile Canyon is an unexpected paradise."

Looking Up The River

Looking Up The River
plein air oil  10" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is the second piece that I painted on The Frying Pan River.  I love the almost abstract, loose quality of this one.  River water is constantly moving and changing color depending on the weather and sky color.

Following The Sun

Following The Sun
Oil  12" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

This was also in our backyard.  I love these bigger sunflowers, but most of the flowers that just plant themselves are the littler ones that look like a mix of sunflower and black-eyed susan.

Summer Sun

Summer Sun
Oil  12" x 12"
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$295.00 + $10. s/h

My last few posts were of fields of sunflowers.  Now a couple of sunflowers close up.  We have these growing in our back yard, as well as the field by our house.  I love it when paintings are right there in front of me!

Golden Hue

Golden Hue
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10 s/h

This view of Bear Creek Park was done almost by just turning around where I was in the last post.  I was standing on the side of a path with fields of sunflowers on both sides.  It's just been a spectacular wildflower summer!  No complaints here!

Here's a picture from the park:

As I said in the last post, if you squint the meadow is just yellow!

Blaze Of Yellow

Blaze Of Yellow
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is another Bear Creek Park sunflowers plein air piece.  Once again, I headed over to the park to paint before breakfast.  As I said, we live right next door to this incredible almost 700 acre park.  I've walked its' trails thousands of times, painted it in different seasons dozens of times, enjoyed its' sunrises for years.

Normally, I tone my canvases in yellow ochre, but here I used cad red light.  I love the way the bits of color peek through.

Yellow Orchestra

Yellow Orchestra
plein air oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10 s/h

While much of the country is having a drought, especially California, here in Colorado we've had more rain this summer than in the last 20 years.  Every thing so so green and there are wildflowers every where!!  The last 3 weeks we've had fields of the most amazing, tiny sunflowers.  In years past the meadows were a beautiful yellow ochre.  Right now when you look at a field while squinting, you see nothing but yellow.

This is a recent plein air piece done in Bear Creek Park, right next to our house.  I went down several mornings with my coffee and paints.  We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful location!

Backyard Rose

Backyard Rose
Oil  6" x 6"
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$100.00 + $10. s/h

These roses were in our backyard earlier this summer.  This one was in a bud vase and made a great, little centerpiece.  It also made a wonderful painting!

At one point I knew all the names of our roses.  I suppose that I should figure that out.  Or, better yet, I should make name tags.  That was a great thing about the Garden Tour that I posted about.  The flowers were all identified.  Even thought I've forgotten the name, I still love this rose with all the nuances of pink and peach.

Sweet, Little Chair

Sweet, Little Chair
Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is the third painting from the recent Garden Tour.  We were invited to tour the gardens in advance to help us choose our locations.  No one had the chance to tour each garden.  This was the first grade that I toured.  Immediately I knew that I wanted to paint this little chair on the front porch. It is so sweet!  Interesting that I painted chairs at two locations.

Right now I have this painting sitting temporarily in a simple, black frame.  It looks great!  I might re-photo this.  The painting is just a bit brighter.

Caliente Coral

Caliente Coral
Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is the second painting done during the recent Garden Tour.  This was started in a beautiful yard on Saturday afternoon.  This yard had beautiful flowers, but it had so many seating areas, that the yard, was truly an extension of the house.  I heard many people comment that this was one of their favorite yards.

Each yard had at least one garden docent to answer questions.  One of them came to see what I was painting.  I commented that this geranium had such coral colors.  She told me that is because this is called "Caliente Coral".  No wonder!  So, I Googled "Caliente Coral" and sure enough it is a hybrid geranium created to withstand heat.

Restful Garden

Restful Garden
Oil  12" x 16"
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$495.00 + $10. s/h

Recently, several members of my plein air group, Garden Artists, painted in private gardens on a local garden tour.  It was a great event;  a huge tour, beautiful gardens, wonderful people, and new locations for plein air work.  We were thrilled to have been invited.

These adirondack chairs were in the back yard of the house where I painted Saturday morning.  They were right outside the back door and seemed like such a great place for a restful moment, perhaps enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the early evening.

The owners of the house told me that their son got them these Adirondack chairs many years ago in Maine.  I Googled "Adirondack chairs" to learn a bit more.  Here is what I learned:  "The first Adirondack chair was designed by Thomas Lee while vacationing in Westport, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains in 1903. Needing outdoor chairs for his summer home, he tested his early efforts on his family. After arriving at a final design for a "Westport plank chair," he offered it to a carpenter friend in Westport in need of a winter income, Harry Bunnell.^[1] Bunnell saw the commercial potential of such an item being offered to Westport's summer residents, and apparently without asking Lee's permission filed for and received U.S. patent #794,777 in 1905.^[2] Bunnell manufactured hemlock plank "Westport chairs" for the next twenty years, painted in green or medium dark brown, and individually signed by him."

I wasn't able to finish any of the paintings on location during the Garden Tour as there were so many people attending.  It was a great opportunity to meet new people and share my art.  I finished this piece later in my studio.

All Colorado Juried Show

I'm honored that my painting, "Bear Creek Snow" received an Honorable Mention in 

the Littleton Fine Arts Guild's All Colorado Juried Show.  The show is hanging at the 

Depot Art Center, 2069 West Powers Ave in Littleton, CO through most of August. 

Stop by the Depot Art Center if you're in Littleton. 

Pink Champagne

Pink Champagne
Oil  8" x 10"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

These little roses are from our back yard.  We've had a very wet summer, with not many really hot days.  But, the day that I wanted to paint these, it was in the high 80's and they are in the sun.  So, I moved my easel inside and set up right in front of the window.  I was out of the sun, the flowers were very close.  I'm not sure if this is a "plein air" painting.  Is it plein air when the artist and subject are outside?   Or, can the artist be looking out a window?

Life Is Getting Better

Life Is Getting Better

plein air oil  8" x 10"

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$195.00 + $10. s/h

This is a plein air piece that I painted at Summerland Gardens, a great garden store and a gallery where I have work.  

Often when looking for a title for a painting I use Google.  When I Googled "geranium" I came to a site about what it means when you dream about geraniums.  My husband and I are gardeners, our backyard is filled with flowers.  The corner of our deck is filled with the red of geraniums.  I love painting geraniums.  But, I will admit that I have never dreamed about geraniums, at least that I remember.  

Following is some of what I learned about geranium dreams:  Flowers symbolize something beautiful, not only in dreams, but in real life.  So, when you dream about flowers it means that everything in life is getting better (thus my title)  unless, (there's always an unless!) you dream of wilted flowers.  Ok, all of this makes sense to me.  According to what I read, when young girls dream about blooming geraniums, they will soon meet their future husband.  Who knew?  When a woman dreams about blooming geraniums she will soon get a few (not just one) marriage proposals from wealthy suitors in high society.  Hopefully the dream warns women not to make mistakes when choosing a partner.

When you see potted geraniums in a house, it is a symbol of a calm and happy family.  When geraniums are abundantly blooming, it means fulfillment of all desires.  If you dream that a man has a pot of geraniums on his head (I have never dreamt this!!) his wife is pregnant.  

I will say that I learned a lot when I looked for a painting title!

Sand Shovel

Sand Shovel
Oil on cradled panel  8" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

There's always something to be done around a yard and garden.  A sand shovel has a flat bottom which makes it better for shoveling gravel and, of course, sand!  We use it to for our gravel walkways.  When our kids were little we used it to shovel sand into the sand box.

Faucet Shadow

Faucet Shadow
Oil on cradled panel  8" x 8"
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$195.00 + $10. s/h

I loved the way the hose and faucet created such a strong shadow on the side of our house.