New Project

I am honored to have been chosen as one of a group of artists who will assist Doug Rouse in his latest project, "The 12 Mural Project." It is a community effort for the community to beautify public places in Colorado Springs. I will attach the link so you can follow the progress, and also will put it on my Facebook page. I'm excited to follow the progress. The plan is to have a video of the process from start to finish. The start is this weekend with powerwashing and basecoating. (which will be done by some of the other artists.)

Another Aspen

the more I look at these, the more I see. They really do come in all different colors and reflect the light that is around them. I'm looking forward to doing some on location this fall.

another re-work

This one I've looked at for awhile, and thought I had it sold a few years to a couple who had lived in Manitou, but moved back east. They liked it, I liked, but had it hanging up, so looked at it often. As my style developed, I thought, maybe I should do more with the foreground, maybe I should push the background back, maybe I should straighten up the windows. And so I did.

Shepherdess

this is one I reworked today and like so much better. I did the original in 2004, and have touched it up a few times, but this time was brutal. Sometimes it just takes looking at something long enough to tell how to fix it. (and painting for a few more years of problem-solving doesn't hurt, either.)

sittin' in a tree, kiss-ing

this was so interesting, I had to include it. This is the tree I painted on location yesterday. I always take a photo reference for later comparison. I don't really ever use them, as my paintings are usually completed on the spot. Even when it starts raining on the canvas, its hard to re-create that plein aire feeling from a photo. So I usually wipe off the paint and start over with something new. This really amazed me at how complicated the branch and leaf structure was, and how I simplified it for the painting. Simple is better, and you can see the difference in the visual material you receive from a photo versus from life. Kiss-ing refers to "keep it simple, smarty" of course, and always a good reminder!