Late Afternoon Aspens

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On our last painting day in Estes Park we drove to a different area and found this nice grove of aspens with green grass behind them. It was late in the day when we started painting and we had to rush to capture the light as it was moving quickly behind the trees. the effort paid off as this painting recieved an Award of Merit for the Estes Park Plein Air event. This painting and all the other unsold Estes Park paintings are available at the Earthwood Collections Gallery in Estes Park, Colorado.

August Snow

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The area around Moraine Park in the Rocky Mountain National Park is just spectacular. If you walk out in the valley to the winding stream and look up at the snow capped peaks it's awe inspiring. And the mountains look different every few minutes as the clouds go over them, or the rain comes in or when there's fog in the valley. Sometimes the distant mountains are crystal clear and other times they disappear into the atmosphere. This was painted late in the day and it was dark when I packed up. I had to work on it a second time to get the effect I was after which was the way it looked when I first set up.

The Wicker Chair - Sold

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At the Quick Draw we could choose between 3 models, a still life set up and any scene or landscape we could view from the park. I chose to paint this young lady, or should I say the wicker chair as I had not yet seen the model. The models usually arrive shortly before we start painting. We had 90 minutes to paint minus the 10 minute model break. When the whistle is blown you have 15 minuted to frame it, wire it and turn it in to be hung in the park. There was a live auction for all the quick draw pieces in the center of the park. My painting sold as did the majority of the paintings. This was a 14" x 18" oil painting on canvas board.

Twin Sisters

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This was painted off the road between Estes Park and Allenspark looking out at the Twin Sisters. The clouds were a big challenge on this piece as there was a short window when the sun would peak over the top of the mountain and give me the shadow pattern I liked. Too early and all shadow. Wait too long and there was just a little shadow. If the clouds came over during that time I would paint by memory for a while then pack it in. It took 3 trips back for this painting.

Colorado Country

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I started this painting in the afternoon after I painted Colorado Vista. I loved the clouds that were coming over the bluff in Lyons so I quickly set up my gear and got a glimpse of the clouds in my painting. They quickly passed over my head so I used the next set of clouds to use as reference. And then the next set, and the next, and so on. I didn't realize how fast they were moving when I set up but I guess because I am looking up in this scene and the clouds were so low to the mountains it really accentuated how fast they were moving. This painting is available at Earthwood Collections Gallery in Estes Park, Colorado.

Colorado Vista

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This is the first painting I did for Estes Park Plein Air event. I enjoyed the red rock near Lyons and found this spot looking through some trees to frame them. I was excited to have a strong start on my first day of painting and I also started a second painting that I'll try to post tomorrow titled "Colorado Country". Unfortunately the weather turned on our third day and we lost two days due to rain.

All of my unsold paintings for this years event can be seen and purchased at the Earthwood Collections Gallery in Estes Park, Colorado.

Wyoming Mountains - Snowy Range

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We left Cheyenne on Wednesday and Thursday to head up to the mountains for some different scenery. We went up in search of the Snowy Range not knowing what we would find but it sounded good. We were amazed to find this beautiful range with snow still on it in August and clear lakes below it. On Wednesday I started a 16"x20" but there were clouds covering the sun all day along with some rain. On Thursday the light was completely different so I decided to start a new painting to take advantage of having the sun out. I look forward to going back to the Snowy Range to do some more painting.

High Noon - Sold

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For the Quickdraw on Saturday they had set up a model for us as a cowboy. He was fun to paint with his guns and leathers.

Downtown Cheyenne

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This is a building in the downtown section of Cheyenne. It is just down the way from where I painted the Tivoli window.

Immortalized

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While I was painting the Tivoli window Earl walked up and asked me to put him in the painting. I told him I was almost finished with that painting but if he could wait a few minutes I could do a new painting of him. He agreed so I quickly finished the other painting and moved my set up over so he could pose for me. He kept saying "I'm being immortalized" while I was painting. He also ask that I get his cigarette in the painting. He seemed to really enjoy being the focus of a painting and I was glad to have a good model. He held the pose really well too.

Tivoli Window

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This is a window detail of the Tivoli building in downtown Cheyenne. It is a beatutiful piece of architecture and I love the color and simplicity of all the details of this building. I chose to paint the window because of the way the reflected light was bouncing into the shadows.

Sunset Over Cheyenne

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This was a sunset painting I did after a day of heavy rain. I had earlier in the day chosen a scene I wanted to paint and sketched it out in oils. Just when I was about to start in on covering the canvas it started to rain. I was thinking I would tough it out since I had a small umbrella to cover my painting. Just about then a lighting strike came over the hill and then the thunder close belind. I looked around and noticed I was standing under the only power lines around and about three feet away from a power pole with a transformer on it. I didn't think that was the smartest idea to continue to paint but I decided the painting was worth the risk. Then a loud boom came over head and the lightning stike was a lot closer and the rain started to really come down so I quickly threw my gear into the truck and decided to wait for the storm to pass. Several hours later it did pass but it was time to meet the other artists and gallery owners for a dinner on the ranch. I never did get a chance to paint on my sketch.

This painting of the sunset was done after dinner and on our way back to town. We had been wanting to paint a sunset and we thought we might get a good one with the clouds and rain coming down in the distance. I really enjoyed painting this painting and it looks better in real life. I think I captured the rain showers in the distance but they don't show up in this photo of the painting. This painting along with the rest of the Wyoming Plein Air paintings can be seen at the Link Gallery in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Wyoming Country - Sold

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This is the first painting I did for the Wyoming Plein Air. The location is a little southwest of Cheyenne and the clouds got my attention along with the wide open country. The paintings for the event are on display at the Link Gallery in Cheyenne. This painting sold at the opening reception.