Painting with the Plein Air Artists of Colorado

I was invited to paint with this group when they came up to Summit County this September, and I took them up on it. Now that I feel more comfortable painting outside, I will be joining them more often I hope!

The studio piece from the last plein air

I will admit, I didn't use the plein air piece much as a reference, but it did help with colors. I wanted to get more of the water in this one. This is 11x14. The scene was in Westcliffe, Colorado, just as colors were beginning to turn.

Another in my plein air series

I had a couple of afternoons to paint while in Westcliffe this summer, and this is another that I did while I was there. The leaves were changing in front of our eyes, and it was amazing how much more color there would be in the afternoon than there had been that morning! I did a little larger studio piece from this study plus the reference I took while there. I will post it in a couple of days.

I have been away too long....time to start posting again!

Somehow time flew this summer and I managed to ignore my blog. We did a plein air event as a benefit for the local Land Trust. My sister Adele was in town as Artist in Residence in Breckenridge for a month, and I spent more time painting than I thought I might be able to. I went to Westcliffe CO in September for another Plein air event that Adele and our friend Joe Garcia were involved in. In the process I managed to get better at painting outside and even did a few plein air pieces I don't mind showing other people. I have taken two workshops with Jill Carver, trying to improve my outdoor painting skills and perhaps something stuck. But then again, next time I go outside to paint, I might have to wipe every attempt off!

Joe, his wife Anne, Adele, and my husband and I also managed to set up a business doing painting workshops in New Zealand. The first one that Joe and Adele will be teaching is full, and we have scheduled Michael Chesley Johnson and Barrett Edwards to teach two in February and March in 2013. See http://www.paintnewzealand.blogspot.com/ if you would like more information. I also was juried in to Women Artists of the West and will be joining Plein Air Artists of Colorado in January. My goal is to paint even more next year and will start by joining PAAC in Taos in May for a paintout.

So do I have an excuse for not posting? Not really, but I will do better this fall and into the winter.