The Cup

The website I belong to has painting Challenges. I have only done a few but it is good practice and you don't have to come up with something to paint. This one involved mixing the paint colors before painting then put it on one stroke at a time. Here is my attempt.

The Orchard Keeper

This little house sat on the edge of an orchard in Palisade, Co. The worker were out pruning the vines and trees. I loved the red branches and the mountains in the background.

Cleaning Day

Yesterday was cleaning day in my basement studio. It had gotten so bad I mixed up my liqiuin with linseed oil. Couldn't figure out why my painting was drying so slow. I went to Lowes and found these heavy shelves that ate 24" deep. There were easy to put together and two of them hold all my painting panels and finished paintings. I took down and old L shaped desk which gve me room to walk around. I keep hearing that I need to put up a mirror to view my paintings in. They say it really helps you to find mistakes. I think I can do that now. 

Paintings at the VAAM gallery in McPherson

Spent the day getting some paintings ready to take to McPherson. The coop gallery there changes their exhibits monthly. I photographed today but it was very dreary out which actually made the paintings lighter than they are. Here are the two larger pieces that I am exhibiting. 

Below the Bluffs

This field had such great lines from the implement that was used to drill the wheat. The shadows on the bluffs behind made a nice backdrop. I shot a lot of photos out the car window while we were driving. We would have never made it home if we stopped every time I saw a photo op. Some instructors actually use blurry photos to paint from. It keep the painter from getting wrapped up in the details. Glad to get to paint today.

Home and ready to PAINT

We are home from our trip to Grand Junction, Co. My camera is full of images I want to paint. I visited every art gallery I could find and met some great artists. Bought a painting and a nice ceramic bowl. Like I need more paintings but really like supporting artists. Downtown Grand Junction had several large sculptures, but my favorite was from Hotchkiss, Co. at the Creamery Art Center. Hard to photograph well because of the surroundings

Fruita, Colorado

Wow this area has grown from our time here in the mid 70's. I spent a year at Mesa College studying art.

The campus was small at that time and was just becoming a 4 year college. I would have finished my dregree here if we hadn't moved to Cortez the next year. I explored downtown Grand Junction then drove to Fruita. Found a nice gallery called the Rose Hue. Then had a great lunch at the Hot Tomatoe.