Art Journal

Here's the third plein air painting I have done at the same pond at Pella Crossing. There was ice on the pond that was catching a tremendous white glare and that's what I wanted to capture in this painting.It was a pretty good day for painting, fairly warm out,  and with good gloves and warm clothes I did okay although it was a bit chilly starting out in the morning. Luckily there was no wind, the bane of winter painting. I intend to go back and paint there some more this month if I can, Christmas looming ahead and all.

Gray Day at Pella Crossing, 9 x 12

Although it is starting to get colder these days, the PAAC group went to Golden Ponds last week to paint. I went along and painted this scene near the parking area. The day was overcast and the weak sun was reflecting off the ice. It was truly a gray-looking day.

December Grays, 8 x 10

I kind of forgot about posting this painting which I did on August 10th. I did a bunch of others around then it it just got left out. This was a painting I did at sunset at Hamms Pond. I started early to get in the background and cloud shapes I wanted and kind of went for it in the sky as the colors changed. By then the clouds had all changed shape and moved away but I went with the composition I started with and just adapted the colors. It was getting pretty dark by the time I quit and packed up.

Purple Sunset, 10 x 12

Here is a studio painting I worked on this summer.  It was based on some Petrified Forest photos but rapidly changed into something sort of different. I was experimenting with some different color combinations.

Blue Mesa, 20 x 24

Here's a painting from a recent trip to Rocky Mountain Park. I wandered around along the stream below the alluvial fan searching for a good scenic view and found this spot sheltered by some large willows where I could set up and paint. Finding a good sheltered spot was critical since the wind was howling with gusts up to 40 mph or so, coming down the valley from the peaks. I finally ended up sitting on the ground to keep everything from blowing away. The weather was warm and nice and except for the wind a great day for painting.

Icy Stream, 12 x 9