Aspen Grove

Aspen are the weed tree here in the Colorado mountains. They grow like crazy anywhere you don't want them to be. like in my garden. However, we love them for their color and their ability to fill empty hillsides very quickly. Pine Beetle have devastated our pine forests but it is amazing how quickly aspen are providing cover for the wildflowers and wildlife. This Aspen stand was in Rico Colorado, but it could have been in my backyard in Summit County. This photo of the oil painting was taken with my new iphone and I was amazed at what a good job it did picking up the color. It may be just a touch light, and the blue in the shadows isn't really quite that bright, but I was really surprised at the quality of the photo. This painting is 18x24 and available at the River's Edge Gallery in Alma Colorado, a little town between Breckenridge and Fairplay.

There really is a South Park, Colorado

A "park" is a high mountain valley, and Colorado has three of them; North Park, Middle Park and the famous South Park. It isn't really famous for anything except the cartoon series named after it, but it is home to several small Colorado towns. The largest is Fairplay, and just north of there is a little town called Alma. An artist friend of mine, Cat Roberts, is opening a new gallery in Alma, and I will have some work hanging there. The River's Edge gallery is in a little historic building in a town where the largest store (if you don't count bars) is called Al-Mart. Alma is most known for having a cop car with a dummy sitting in it postitioned in different places in town during the summer, trying to get the tourists to slow down as they whiz through on their way to Breckenridge. Now it will be known for having a wonderful gallery too!

I thought it might be apt to have some river and fishing paintings in a gallery called River's Edge, so this will be one that goes there on Friday. It is 9x12, and an oil painting.