Experiments in Pastels

Sneffles Autumn

Red Mountains #2 and #3

It has been a busy summer of hiking in the high country.  I have not taken much time for painting, but did spend time with my good friend, Barbara Kendrick, who has helped me off and on try to get the hang of pastels.  It is still a mystery to me how this medium works, but I came away with two pieces that I like.  

The Ouray art show, Artists Alpine Holiday, which happens every August, was a great success.  Though I did not win any awards for the 3 watercolors that I entered, I did sell two of them.  

A new locals gallery opened up in Ouray this summer, The Purple Peacock.  I was encouraged by Dee Hilton, who owns the Wildflower Boutique, where my paintings, prints, and cards reside, to talk to the owner of the Peacock.  I was pleased to be able to hang several original paintings there, one of which sold last month.  

So it is time to hit the road again, and as usual, I have told myself that this time out, I will paint more, but I know how that usually goes.  😏

Spring Things

Time to move on to Spring things.  This is an 8x8 watercolor of Aspen trunks and spring wildflowers.
The snow is melting here in Ouray, but up in the high country there is still several feet covering the ground.  The weather forecasters are calling for warmer than usual temps this spring, so perhaps the snow will come down fast.
Right now it is pretty brown here in town with a few daffodils braving the intermittent snows along with the hardy forsythia.

Another spring aspen study.  I did both of these while on the road this winter, tho I did not finish this one until last week.  

I painted this small autumn aspen study in February before doing the spring studies.  8x8 is a handy size to work in on the road.  I like it better than the tiny 4x6.  The only problem is the composition is square, so that requires more thought and preparation when considering where to place the focal point.

Last summer I started this quilt and had it all put together and pinned when we left in Oct.  I took it with me, but never did anything to it while on the road.  

Nor did I get it out while we were home in December.  But in late March, after arriving,  I was eager to get it finished as I had finally figured out how I was going to quilt it.

Quilting the whole thing on my machine with only a little practice was too daunting,  so  I tied the body of the quilt
and used my sewing machine to quilt the 2 borders.  It is certainly not perfect, but all in all it looks great.

Wouldn't you say?

Remembering Autumn in Colorado

"Autumn at Crystal Lake"

What a relief to finally paint something that I like.  It was quite a struggle to get it to the finish line, and I told Mark that this should not be so hard.  But I am pleased with it and hope that it marks the beginning of better paintings to come.  This painting is 10x14, matted to 16x20.  

"Autumn up Dexter Creek"

This is a small study, 8x8" which could be matted to 12x12.

I love fall and found recently that I had no more fall paintings hanging anywhere, so perhaps others love fall as much as I do.

 Aspens are a popular painting subject and fall aspens are the most colorful.  When you capture vividly colored leaves with the aspen's uniquely marked trunks and add snow capped peaks, you are bound to have a winner.

My wish, now that we are back on the road, is that I don't fall into my bad habit of not painting.  It is important to keep the creative juices flowing.  From past experience, I know that the longer I go between painting attempts the easier it is not to pick up a brush at all.  Then the blank page just stares back reflecting a blank mind.  😕