Beautiful Crested Butte

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity

 to paint in beautiful

 Crested Butte, Colorado this summer.

Even more thank you's to Kim and Bryce and their girls for 

being such wonderful hosts.

Now this is the way to walk the dogs!

The painting workshop with Don Sahli was an exceptional experience.

He encourages spontaneity, passion and teaches his students to 

"see the relationship of color, form and design in nature". 

Don was one of the last students of Russian School master painter Segei Bongart.

He carries on this legacy by teaching others the essentials of painting.

Don stresses that learning to paint better involves miles of canvas

 and the discipline to paint.  

He also stresses that painting is about enjoying the journey

without thinking about a style or what might sell.

(I might add that his paintings sell pretty darn well.)

He asked us to start with a quick wash

and a minimal sketch on the canvas.

Then we blocked in the shapes with color

 as if we were working on

an abstract painting.  

This is the view from the highway from the road that

runs past the Crested Butte Ski Area.

The wildflowers were in full bloom. 

I had a lot of fun painting this one on the last day.

I tried to keep the values lighter and the colors brighter than

my usual plein air paintings.  

With some gentle suggestions from my teacher 

concerning over-thinking...

On the last afternoon Don did his demo painting after lunch.

Some of us stayed to paint in the afternoon for a couple more hours.

By the time I found the view that I wanted to paint

I only had about an hour to complete my painting.

It is really a block in I suppose.

But I felt that I was finally finding my way around in the new palette.

Don's palette for you artists out there is:

Phtalo blue, Ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue, Cerulean blue, 

Viridian green, Cadmium yellow light, Cad yellow medium, 

Cad yellow deep, Cad orange, Cad red light, 

Alizarin crimson, Transparent red oxide, Yellow Ochre, 

Titanium white and Ivory/Carbon black.

Work, Work, Workshop!

I attended a challenging workshop in Crested Butte, Colorado in July.

The instructor was Denver artist Don Sahli.
 His colorful and energetic landscape and still life paintings
 are inspirational.

After a few years of hoping to find a Sahli workshop
that fit our schedule the stars finally aligned

and we were able to combine the workshop with a visit
 to our niece Kim and her charming and active family.

They kept Uncle Rick and the dogs happy with lots of
 hiking, picnicking and laughter.

So the timing was right, the locations were spectacular and
the instructor is talented.
He uses a full range palette, this is where the challenge begins for me.

I have been using a limited palette for many years
 so the idea of painting with a palette of 15 colors
 was a bit daunting!
But, being one who enjoys a new challenge
 combined with some palette boredom, I just jumped right in.

Oh, I need to add that we were required to use canvases that were

 16" by 20"or larger....for plein air!

For those readers who are not painters, this is a huge size.

Most plein air paintings are 9" x 12" or smaller!

Oh, yes, in addition to the expanded palette and the increased size,
we only had two hours to complete the paintings
 before leaving for a new painting location.

Those of you who paint with me know that I can paint pretty quickly
but this was just a wild ride.

 Don's advice was invaluable, he sees ones strengths and weaknesses
 and helps guide you to greater understanding of
your painting process.

The group that gathered for this workshop was 

up for the challenge as well.

Most were experienced artists looking to improve their painting

 and many of them were repeat offenders at Don's workshops.

All of them were great fun although, we worked so hard and so quickly,

our socializing time was at a minimum.

Don did a demonstration painting at each location too.

You learn so much by just watching him paint.

These were very full days.

The paintings in this blog post are 

from the first two days of Don's workshop.

I have the urge to go back and "improve" them a little

particularly the first one.  

The little barn doesn't integrate fully into the landscape.

Oh well.... 

More on the final day of painting, the colors in Don's palette 

and his process in my next post.

Bonaparte's Bridge

I really haven't done much plein air painting this summer

for various reasons.

This little painting was actually done in my studio.

 I went to Bonaparte (Iowa) to paint 

with my Fort Madison artist friend Carlene Atwater in May.

"Bonaparte's Bridge"

4" x 8" - Oil on canvas

I did a plein air painting using the old Glove Factory building as my subject.  It is now a lovely Inn and has a wonderful facade.  I wasn't happy with that painting so....

I had taken a photo of the Bonaparte Bridge

 because I've always loved it's

faded green paint.

And...I had this wee little canvas.

So I cut my losses and had fun painting this little darling.

So...

Here is a not very good photo of the Bonaparte Inn.

I hear it is for sale.

It has been very sensitively remodeled

 and has a ballroom on the top floor.

Any takers?

Soft Song of the River

Here is another painting from this summer.

I am still working on catching up with my blog posts....

"Soft Song of the River"

9 x 12 - Oil on panel

Gin Lammert and I went to the Bentonsport Rose Garden
on a gentle June morning to paint for a couple of hours.

The sky was overcast and
we had just missed a little early morning river fog (darn it).
The sun never did break through to give us a little contrast.

Every time I look at this little painting I have the urge to go back
and paint in some stronger highlights and darks.
What do others do when all the values are in the middle of the scale?

Sometimes "improvements" are not for the best.....

Excuses, Excuses!

 I have so many excuses for not posting

for the last 3 months.

Most of them are pretty lame.

The hardest part of starting to blog again is

 determining where to pick up the thread of what I have painted

since my last post in June.

It has been a wonderful summer, after a spring full of rainy days.

Here is an early spring view up the Des Moines River

from Lacey-Keosauqua State Park.

 "Up River"  

9 x 12 - oil on board

I photographed the finished painting on May 18th!

No regrets....Onward!

Great Evening!

Thank you to all the friends who joined us at Burns Gallery and Tea Emporium

 for the opening of our group show

"All Together"

Thank you as well to Sue and Ken Burns for your support

for our local artists!

(and thanks for the great selection of frames that you have)

And thank you to Carlene Dingman Atwater 

and Gin Lammert for your friendship, support and inspiration.

Click on the links above and check out their respective blogs!

Take Flight

I have been having fun painting planes this year.

I tried to stay loose with this Fairchild 22.

It is more about the feeling of flight than an airplane illustration.

Take Flight

10" x 20" oil on panel

Now it has flown off to be framed

 by Ken at Burns Gallery and Tea Emporium

 in Bonaparte, Iowa.

I will be including this and other paintings

 in a group show with my painting buddies

 Carlene Dingman Atwater and Gin Lammert 

at the gallery in June.

This painting was inspired by yet another photo 

in Eric Presten's book Vintage Flyers.