Goin' for the Gold-Finch!

"Goldfinch Blossoms" SOLD--thank you!

Happy Summer everyone! First a giant thank you to everyone who helped and supported me during my busiest event of the year--the Denver Summer Art Market a few weeks ago.

Any outdoor event in Colorado is always a bit of surprise but it was gorgeous dry sunny weekend. Almost 100 on Saturday but thankfully my tent partner had a portable bucket misting fan (from Home Depot) which was very popular! I also tried a "gel cool pad" for my chair which I threw in the freezer the night before. Highly recommend for any warm weather event for a quick cool down!

And of course thanks to Denver's best art shoppers for stopping by and collecting my art for yikes almost 20 years! (Started very, very young..;). Sold many of my favorite recent paintings like this cheerful goldfinch painting posted today.

It's a lot of work getting ready for an art event like this but it's so rewarding. You get some time out of your studio, you meet and connect with many new people, you get a ton of painting practice and build your inventory--I painted over 50 new paintings.

With the Market behind me though I'm getting ready for some exciting new art events including...
My NEW 2 Day Glowing Colors Oil Painting Workshop: August 23& 24
Location: Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado
Click here for more info or to register.

Foothills Art Center Golden, CO

In the workshop I'll be sharing my tips for using transparent colors to create an exciting under painting which the method I use for many of my animals, including the goldfinch here. I don't often offer a 2 day intensive workshop so this is a good opportunity if you've been looking for an in person painting experience to learn this very popular method.

And finally thanks to all my current summer students for taking time out of their busy summers to paint with me! See you at the easel soon!

Where Creativity is Contagious

"Enchanted Adobe" 8x10 oil on gesso panel

“Creativity is contagious, pass it on!” – Albert Einstein

Happy Friday everyone! Despite today's gloomy Rocky Mountain spring forecast, I think of Spring as the perfect time for renewal, growth, and creativity. An ideal time to learn something new just for yourself…

Speaking of creativity thanks to all my spring students! Some of you are new and some are “old” friends. To each of you, thanks again sharing your creative time with me through all the seasons. 

Since it's almost May I started to make some summer travel plans this week. Each year I try to visit to a place I've never been before (more on the place I've picked this year in an upcoming post.)

But it's also nice to return to places that you've grown fond. That welcome you back. For me (like many artists) that's always been New Mexico. Which is thankfully just a state away...

Santa Fe is a special place where I've always felt the creativity is highly contagious.  This cute adobe home is just off windy arty Canyon Road. (I'm told only low level traditional adobe structures are allowed in this area.) 

Better stop day dreaming and get back to painting. Wishing you a wonderful spring weekend! For more info about my painting classes or upcoming workshops please email me or visit the studio website. 

P.S. Love New Mexico? Check out my Land of Enchantment board on Pinterest.

Painting the Spirit of Nature

"Glorious Gull" Click here to bid on DPW-thanks!

“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Happy Monday everyone! Yesterday, it felt like summer. I finally turned off the studio heat, opened all the windows and enjoyed an iced coffee instead of a winter cappuccino. Not quite spring break in Cabo but still pretty relaxing for mid March.

Prior to this weekend though, I’ve been getting more than a little anxious waiting for spring. But of course, as many winter plein air painters know nature is still all around us. You just might have to look a little more closely (and be willing to brave the cold.) 

"Crow on Ice" 8x10 oil on linen

As I’ve noted before I get my daily winter nature fix at my nearby park where several large ponds attract plenty of usual aviary suspects even on the coldest days such as crows, gulls, geese, starlings, pigeons, flickers and ducks. .  

Washington Park bald eagle (hanging out in evergreens)

This year we also had some eagle and hawk sightings (as you can see) which was exciting but truthfully I enjoy painting the “everyday” birds like my high key gull and snowbound crow today. It was a happy coincidence that a recent  DPW weekly painting challenge a couple of weeks ago was bird themed. The challenge inspired by this wonderful Robert Henri (his book The Art Spirit is one of my favorites) quote:

Paint the flying SPIRIT of the bird 

rather than its FEATHERS.

It's another gorgeous day so time to get back to the easel and find out what I already know....Have a colorful week! P.S. For more info about my upcoming spring and summer workshops please visit my website.

Painting Paints and Thinking Twice

"Painted Pony" oil on gesso panel 8x10 (on hold for future show)

A horse is worth more than riches.  Spanish Proverb

Brr…Our warm weather streak came to abrupt end this week. Today, I woke up to several inches of snow which is pretty from a landscape painting perspective but not enjoyable to drive in. 

It’s not going to be easy to get out and about today (I adore my old car Maxine but she’s not very snow worthy) so planning to work on finishing some paintings I started a while back. Do you have a stack of those in your studio? Mine's getting pretty high...

So yesterday I finally put the finishing touches on these daily oil horse painting studies. As a lifelong horse lover and painter, of course I love “paint” horses—How can you resist a horse splashed with color by Mother Nature?  Paint horses are not only valued for their fancy patterns but I’m told are also smart, friendly and wonderful equine companions. I'm always on the lookout for them when I'm out taking photos.

"Sweeter Grass" 8x10 oil  on gesso panel (on hold for future show)

Last week at Jay Moore’s color workshop I took a couple of dozen of pages of notes. A few key guidelines have come to mind while painting this week. One that’s really helped is: 

Think twice, paint once. 

Kind of simple right? But it’s true and it works. The more time you invest up front in a painting the less time you’ll spend correcting, scraping, etc. You’ll absolutely save time in the long run. Plus, you’ll likely craft better brush marks and shapes along the way.

Thanks everyone—I hope you have a safe, colorful and cozy winter week! P.S. You can find out more about my new upcoming painting workshops here.