Long Winter Nights

Coal Pits Wash, Zion National Park

I struggle with what to do with myself during the long winter nights.  It doesn't matter whether I am home or on the road.  5pm til 10am is a lot of time to kill, when only 8 of those hours is spent sleeping.
Two small paintings (sketches, 4x6"), and lots of patch sewing occupied some of this time while we were on the road in November.

I found some great buttons at an antique store in Hurricane, UT

Desert Vista

After returning home, all the patches were stitched together

And the handle was braided

Coal Pitts Wash

MORE FUN WITH BAGS

A Whale of a good time

August and September were pretty wet here.  We had showers and thunderstorms almost every day.  There was time in the mornings to get some exercise in usually before the rains started, but that left afternoons to fill.  Thus I completed 3 paintings and two patchwork bags.  Here are the last two bags in no particular order:

Another Spring Theme Painting

Service Berry Blooms Amongst the Quakies 

I used frisket to save some whites, then washed the paper with a light green

Another wash of green

The frisket has been removed from the aspen, and some details and shading added to the trees 

I used a sponge to create the look of foliage and have added the Service Berry limbs

Here the lower background has been darkened and the blossoms revealed.  I have added more detail to the trees and leaves around the blossoms
"Service Berry Blooms Amongst The Quakies"

The Colorful San Juans

Red Mountains 1 & 2 from Red Mountain 3

Blues and greens with a touch of lavender make up the distant peaks.  Using wet in wet technique I wet the red mountains and dropped in oranges and reds

After the mountains were dry, I used a stiffer, square brush to create the trees.  The another wash of color adding the grays on the peaks.  The white area in the lower right hand corner was going to be a foreground

After trying several options for the foreground on small pieces of watercolor paper, I opted out and continued the mountain

For the thin line of sky, I used a wash of yellow with a few drops of orange

Ironsides, Red Mountains 1 & 2

Recalling a High Country Spring

One of the favorite roads that head up into the mountains from Ouray, is County Road 361.
Locally known as the Camp Bird Road since it accesses the once huge and prolific Camp Bird Mine.
This dirt track also accesses Imogene Pass Road which climbs over 13000' then drops abruptly into Telluride.  If you continue past Camp Bird Mine and Imogene Pass Road, you will reach the iconic Yankee Boy Basin, where water tumbles from twin falls and wild flowers literally blanket a verdant basin from mid July through August.  We use the Camp Bird road all year as one of our exercise routes.  We love experiencing the changing seasons along this scenic byway.  

First wash on the mountain and sky, frisket saving whites where the quakies and snow will be

Second wash on the mountains and sky

adding evergreens and first wash for aspen leaves

Shadows and more evergreens

more detail and foreground

"Spring Comes to the Camp Bird Road"

BONANZA!

Patagonia Grasslands

Wow!!  So far this summer has been great for art sales.  How exciting!! 

A good friend in Montrose who owns several of my original paintings, contacted me

this summer in search of more of my art for her new home. 

Canyons of the Colorado

Mexican Gold Poppy

Terra Cotta Pots

Print of Crescent Moon over Zion

The above assortment of my art is what she purchased. :-)

Portland Mine Road in Winter

This piece was hanging in Dee Hilton's shop, Wildflower.

It also sold this summer!

There are still more originals available!  :-)

Heron Pond

Heron Pond

This is pretty unbelievable, but my brother and his wife will celebrate 50 years of marriage this coming week.
So I wanted to give them a gift that I had made.  Above is the pattern I used to create a quilted wall hanging for them.

On Display

The Bear Creek Store display

This summer I am working for Tamara and Bruce Gulde at their new Bear Creek store.  They asked if they could include some of my paintings for sale in the shop.  I am so excited about the display they have created.  Come by and see me and check out all the fine gifts for sale at Bear Creek!

Bruce and Tamara also own the Mountain Fever shop in Ouray, a great place to find the best T-shirts and souvenirs.     Many Thanks, Tamara and Bruce!!!

Tamara and her faithful companion, Aspen

Personalizing Patchwork Bags

What is your fancy?

Dee Hilton owns the Wildflower Boutique in Ouray.  She carries an assortment of my original paintings, prints, cards and magnets in her shop.  I happened  to show her one of the patchwork bags that I had made, and she loved it.  She gave me some fabric with some of her favorite things depicted:

Flowers, coffee and wine.  So I made this bag for her:

This is a cross stitch that Dee created many years ago.  I added some beads for bling.

I cut down a wine bag that Dee gave me to create this patch

Flowers are another favorite thing of Dee's

Earth tones are Dee, no pinks or purples

Dee loves coffee and used to own a coffee roasting establishment

One side of completed bag

The other side

Dee loves her personalized patchwork bag

I have not totally forgotten about painting.  Here is a quick sketch I did of Aspen in spring using a technique that is a favorite of artist, Sachin Naik.  According to Sachin, landscapes are simply patterns of light and shadow.  

I have been experiencing some problems with my computer.  For over two weeks, I could not get to any of my documents or other files.  After many hours on the phone with Apple Care, it is finally working properly again.   I have a love/hate relationship with computers, so I nearly gave up on this blog and everything else concerning computers and the internet.  But, for now, I am back "on the air."