I hope you all enjoying your summer. I'm back from a bit of a creative hiatus but hope to be in full swing now. Many thanks to all of you who were kind enough to check in with me! The summer has been unusually busy. I was out of town for a while as well as working on some non art projects, but I'm back and in the studio this week and very excited to work on a new series of projects in the next few weeks.
First, a quick welcome to all my new summer students! I think it's wonderful how many people I meet every week who are willing to take the time out of their busy lives to explore their creative side.
Last week I was lucky enough to be up in the Vail/Edwards part of Colorado and went to an intimate but very nice outdoor art festival in Edwards where I spotted this larger than life paint encrusted palette that I just had to photograph for inspiration. In between painting, I always try to keep looking for inspiration when I can.
At the Vail International Gallery, for example, I came across the amazing landscape paintings of Colorado artist John Taft. While his colors are more muted than my own palette, I was really drawn to his atmosphere and composition. As Colorado painter, I've seen many mountain and aspen paintings in my time, so it's always interesting when this subject matter catches my eye in a new way.
And I always find some ideas and inspiration at our Cherry Creek Art Festival which featured over 230 exhibitors from around the country. It was great to see some new artists that I caught my eye as well as some old favorites return. For example, I've always enjoyed Phyllis Stapler's colorful and contemporary animal paintings.
While I'm not usually drawn to really tight realism, I loved Richard Hall's stunning oil still lifes with natural elements. I just had to stop and compliment his rendering of tricky textures and he and his wife could not have been nicer. Speaking of still lifes, I also enjoyed the brush work and subtle color harmonies in Kelley Somer's work. Another artist that I've really come to enjoy this summer is Mark Adams--as many of you know I love animals and food (but not in that combination!) so I really look forward to his blog postings.
OK, no lack of inspiration. Time to get to back in the art saddle so I can post some paintings this week. Have a great week and as always feel free to write to me about my art, classes, or any other art topics you may have a question about. Namaste!
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