Thaw on the Poudre, Pastel, 16 x 20.

Rolling into Fall in Colorado

Well, this has been one of the busiest summers ever! I just finished a two week workshop with Susan Ogilvie which was held in Longmont, CO. Wonderful teacher, two great classes, since I was in charge I managed to get in more than five days of these classes. We spent most of the morning out painting. It was HOT, hot, hot. Thank goodness, Susan brought us in to paint inside for the rest of the afternoon. Just got a little too toasty out there. We painted a couple of beautiful ponds, a museum farmstead and a friend's house and yard. I got about four pretty decent paintings out of it, they are mostly studies, but after a couple of days of trying to under-stand exactly what Susan's techniques were about, I kind of grasped the concepts. Although I have been painting forever, every class you take seems to open up new doors into the greater understanding of art.
I was very excited to learn that my painting "January Thaw on the Poudre" was accepted into the Estes Park National Show, Lines Into Shapes. This was a painting I worked out getting ready for the Quick Draw up in Cheyenne this Spring. I did about three paintings before arriving at one that I could paint in 45 minutes! This wasn't one of them! In fact, it was the first one I did, 16 x 20, and I just kept on adding and adding until I realized that there was no way I could even attempt to paint this one again! I guess you could say I got carried away!
I love snow, even though it is a different environment here in Colorado, it isn't like living in North Dakota.