4CPAP at Blue Lake Ranch - pastel landscape

Didn't have time to post this yesterday as I'd originally planned.

Columbine Field and the Old Gate - 12x12"
pastel on black cardstock
plein air

This was one of those days where I wasn't sure I could pull off a finished, let alone somewhat successful [successful: something I don't have thoughts of immediately tossing] painting.  Despite those initial thoughts, and becoming bored with it on location, I managed to wrangle it into something I was satisfied with back in my studio.

The painting location - Blue Lake Ranch - is an incredibly scenic property located near Hesperus, CO, about 18 miles west of Durango.  The 4C group has painted there for years, I believe, and is where the semi-annual member meeting is held.

Anyway, having never been there before, I literally walked around for an hour before finally deciding on this location.  The options to paint were endless...and overwhelming, to an extent!  The La Plata river, small ponds, the attractive yellow B&B house, the various flower gardens, and an iris farm were all options.  The problem, for me, was that I was already on a bit of a "green burn-out", and the entire landscape was green.  I've mentioned this before, probably several times, but as much as I love summertime here in CO, it is the most challenging season for me to paint because I just don't enjoy painting all those foliage greens, at least in pastel.  So, I was a bit dismayed that I wasn't finding anything appealing to paint in such a beautiful area.

Then, someone opened the gate to the flower fields, and these rows of blue columbine were right there, in all their CO state flower glory.  There was red earth, dramatic shadows, and a really neat old wooden gate.  Painting subject issue solved.

This was one of those paintings that I was mindful of the often-heard advice to take ownership of the scene (and, subsequently, the painting), and ask what elements can be kicked to the curb.  In this case, it was a row of huge shrubby trees, similar to the one near the gate.  They crowded the view, and detracted from the composition.  Eliminating them allowed me to add those distal cottonwoods and that network of shadows in the middle ground cast from trees unseen to the right, and play up the foreground shadow detail on the grass and dirt.

The side-effect, however, was that the middle ground tree I did include ended up being...right in the center of the composition, which I happened to not notice until I looked at this photo of it.  Darn - I hate it when that happens!   As painters, we are akin to jugglers, and there are so many different balls to keep in the air at the same time that it's inevitable that one or more get dropped from time to time.

I mentioned that I wasn't sure I'd actually finish this painting, and after about 1 1/2 hrs., I'd had enough, and was distracted by all the neat things I wanted to take photos of, so I packed it up with about 10% left, and later that evening after a mental break from it, I sat down and finished it off.

Enough about the painting - here are some photos from the day:

Karl, working on his second painting of the day

Western Tiger Swallowtail on blue flag iris

Wanda working on her watercolor

Marilyn also painting the columbines

Kathy at work

Helen's almost-finished painting of the red poppies

Sharon forgot her pochade box, but she didn't let that deter her, and did her painting on the ground.
My back hurts just looking at this photo!

Rhonda painting at the pond

Summer Garden - plein air, pastel painting, 9x12 inches

Summer Garden

9x12 inches - pastel on Strathmore

©2011 S.Johnson

Today I went out with the Four Corners Plein Air Painters group, as a guest of Jan Goldman, one of the group's few pastelists.  Location was another private residence located in the Animas river valley, but to the east of the river.  The stand-out features of this property were the amazing landscaped gardens with this lush, perfectly manicured green lawn.  

I absolutely loved the boulders and flagstone steps leading up to an upper tier of the yard, so that became the focal point.  Hollyhocks, daylilies, Russian sage, daisies, yarrow, hosta, purple coneflowers...this garden had it all.   

This originally started out as a 12x12, and while no one suggested it at the critique session, I brought it home and Wayne thought there was too much lawn...and there was, as you can see in the photo below.  A good reminder about how just a simple crop can improve the composition significantly.   They had other very good suggestions (like sky too dark, same value as lawn) that I was grateful for, and when I got home, I finished the piece up and made those changes.   It was tempting to try and add some of the billowing cumulus clouds forming to the north over the distal mountains, but with all the busy detail from the garden, I felt it might be too distracting.  

I feel very fortunate to have met artists in both the Four Corners group as well as the local Friday painters - all are so friendly and it's just nice to go out with a bunch of artists to socialize and get helpful critiques.  

Here are some photos from the critique session, along with a couple from the gardens:

We all loved the vignetted look of this unfinished [oil] painting

A beautiful watercolor of orange daylilies and hosta, my painting, and a close-up of daisies, yellow lilies and the fence, done in acrylic glazes - the photo doesn't begin to do those paintings justice

More oil paintings of different garden perspectives, and a more distal view of the mountains

Mary Ellen is the group's abstract and palette knife painter, and this was a small piece by her standards - isn't it fabulous?  It is an old barn down the road a bit.  

Two more oil paintings and part of Jan's pastel to the left

Lori was painting right behind me and we both were really into the dark tree shadows behind the pink hollyhocks.  Her view is standing and mine was seated...after a night of insomnia, I wasn't feeling up to standing for 3 hrs.  In fact, I was pleased that this painting turned out worthwhile; it did take a lot longer to complete than usual.

Daylilies and Russian sage

Hollyhocks

Purple coneflowers (Echinacea) and yarrow

I am so delighted to see coneflowers growing in gardens here - they were one of

my favorite garden flowers when I lived in CT

San Juan Skyway trip - plein air and a hike

On the second day of our trip, we headed back up to the Lizard Head pass area again.  Across the highway from the trailhead for Lizard Head, is a dirt road that leads to the trailhead for East Fork trail - specifically the east fork of the Dolores River.

Wayne took off on the trail to go fish along the river while I painted:

Road to East Fork Trail

12x9 inches

black Strathmore

Of all the sweeping views I could have done, I instead chose this sort of non-descript view of the dirt road.   Why?  Well, it has a road.  I also liked the small cluster of spruce right at the side, and their cool sky holes.  The clincher?  The patches of dandelions along the sides and in the middle strip.  Seriously.  You just have to appreciate their tenacity to grow in the middle of a road and jazz it up a bit with some color, I think.  

What is puzzling to me is why this simple dirt road was so hard to paint.  It was far harder than painting the creek the day before, which makes absolutely no sense, but there you are.  I got this about 80% finished before I started tuning out, so I finished it up from memory today, and got to try out one of the new dark green Ludwigs I got.  Still something bothers me about the road, but clearly this is as good as it's going to get.  

Another challenge painting at this elevation - close to 10,000' - is that you are stuck with a spruce/fir forest, which consists of tall skinny triangle-shaped trees that pretty much all look alike.  Aspen don't usually grow in abundance at that elevation.

Anyway, I decided that I was a bit too baked to attempt another painting, and after sitting for the 1 1/2 hrs. or however long it took, I walked back up to the car, threw my painting gear in, and grabbed my backpack to hit the trail and hopefully meet up with Wayne coming back.

Let me just say now that if you are a hiker, and you are visiting the area, make a point to do this hike.  It is one of the most scenic I've done in the San Juans, and not strenuous.  

Here are some photos from the hike:

Looking back towards Lizard Head

The singletrack trail starts in a grassy, somewhat boggy, meadow.  After less than 1/4 mile, you'll have this view looking back towards the northwest.  If you look carefully, you can see the trail leading to Lizard head; it's in the center bottom, right above the berm of the meadow.  You have to hike through about 2 miles of forest before getting to the money shot views above timberline.  

A view below

After about 1/2 mile of mild elevation climb, you come to this view.  The east fork of the Dolores river is seen on the bottom left as it meets up with Hwy 145.  The road then follows the river all the way to the town of Dolores.  

Blue and White Columbine - Colorado's state flower

The first columbines of the season - yay!   These lovely flowers grow at surprisingly high elevations, including above timberline.  At this time of the year, they are just starting to bloom in the high country.  I couldn't resist taking several photos of them...

...because they look great from all sides.

Continuing east along the trail

Bi-color violet - variation

Violets, both western blue and white Canadian, were abundant along the trail, particularly in the shaded areas and where small streams cut down through the slopes, as were bluebells and chives.  

Speaking of streams:

Stream abstract #1

Stream abstract #2

View of the San Miguels (including Mt. Wilson, Wilson Peak and El Diente)

Seen on the way back.  Hard to beat that view, wouldn't you say?

I ended up hiking about 4 miles RT on this trail; turns out Wayne had gone off the trail to reach the river, forgetting that I said I'd hike after I finished painting.  So, I missed him.  He got back to the car, saw my painting gear, and proceeded to run down the trail until he caught up to me.  Oops.  

Back at camp, we fended off a small army of mosquitos (which, oddly, didn't bother me nearly as much as they did back in CT),  made some boxed Kraft mac 'n' cheese (the fancy one with the breadcrumbs), enjoyed some cold beers, and contemplated how awesome it is to only live 2 hrs. away from this area.   We've already decided we're coming back in August.  

Durango Arts Center artist's reception: Durango Blooms!

Durango in Bloom!

Yesterday was the artist's reception for the Durango Art Center's month-long exhibit of floral art.  As I'd mentioned in a previous post, this was the first time I've ever been part of a juried show, so attending the reception as one of the included artists was a novelty, and quite fun!

These DAC show receptions are always well-attended, and this one was no exception.  I had the pleasure of meeting some new artists and conversing with a few others I've met before.  Gallery rules prohibit photography of the artworks, but I thought I'd have no problem soliciting individual artists for photos of them beside their work to share on the blog, and I was indeed correct.

My painting "Family Gathering"

Here are few of Durango's fine artists and their works.  I wish I could have gotten more, as there was an amazing amount of wonderful work in all media that I would have loved to share.

Pat Smiley with her beautiful pastel painting "Tenderness", which won the pastel award for the show

I first met Pat a couple of months ago when we were hanging the DAC Member's Show, and she is part of the plein air group I plan to go out with on Fridays.  She also works in oils, but not surprisingly, pastel is her medium of choice.

Kathleen Shepard with her two paintings, L-R, "Hope (for Nathan)" and "Lady Slipper Dance".   

Kathleen explained to me the time-consuming process she uses to create these Art Nouveau-inspired mixed-media arts (colored pencil and pen (l), and pen and marker (r)), which includes the use of blueprint paper for the originals.  The photo doesn't show the detail in these paintings, but you can see the fancy matwork on the larger painting - done by her husband who owns a frame shop in town.

Sue Giddings and her lovely watercolor "Garden Symphony"

This was one of my favorite pieces in the show, and not surprisingly, won the watercolor award.  Sue has been painting watercolor for years, but since her recent retirement, she's been able to devote more time to her artwork, and is having more work accepted into juried shows as well.

Eric Pahlke and his two photographs, top to bottom:  "Tulip and More" and "A Daffodil Among Us"

Eric and I worked the wine table from 7-9, and as photographers, we spent the time chatting about everything photography.  Like me, he's also a member of the Durango Camera Club, and like me, he often forgets to go to the meetings.  He shot these two colorful photographs of flowers in a glass vase against a sheet of black velvet with natural light and minimal PP.

It was a fun evening, and the reception also coincided with the monthly Gallery Walk, and with absolutely perfect weather, it was a great evening to be out in town viewing artwork in various venues!

Thank you Pat, Kathleen, Sue and Eric for allowing me to use these images of you and your work for my blog!  If you'd like a copy of the photo, please email me and I'd be happy to send you the file.

Spring comes to Durango - photo set

Some photos taken on a walk-about in downtown Durango yesterday - a placeholder until I have something new in my studio to share:

Detail of cherry blossom tree

Purple tulip with buds

Growing in a small retaining wall garden in the median right across from our new condo

Trees in bloom in downtown Durango

A trio of daffodils 

Flowering branch detail

Bi-color tulips 

Cherry tree at our current place

Enjoy!

In Profile - #29 FC & CP series

Just off the easel with #29.  I decided this piece was going to be a "one shot deal".  It had a very faint burnt sienna value wash applied a couple of days ago, but I wanted to try the Masonite panel out alla prima style.

It was also a bit of a relief to return to a simpler composition - one of the Echo cliffs silhouetted from the side.  From a distance and without direct light, they take on a completely different look.  To me, they look great from all angles.  And off in the far distance, unassuming, is our eventual destination:  the Kaibab plateau and its erosional masterpiece.  At this point in the day, a row of thin cumulus clouds began to develop towards the west, their edges brightly lit by the sun.  So, they remained.

In Profile - #29

9x12   oil on gessoed panel

I found the surface of this panel to be too slick for my liking; the paint seems to "slide" around, which made painting the clouds particularly challenging.   This did force me to use more paint, which I've been trying to do.  But, I think I'd like a bit more tooth, which another coat of gesso would probably take care of.  

I'm off to work on #30 and the re-gessoed canvas and see how that works...

And here is a different take on "fall colors":  desert wildflowers in fall bloom.  These were taken during our trip to Canyonlands on the long day hike along the Confluence Trail:

A type of sunflower - always cheery

Pretty in Purple 

These also are found around Durango

A type of primrose?  

This was the only plant of its kind I saw on the trail.

Lone blossom

Beauty and the Beast

Delicate purple flowers surrounded by an invasive non-native weed:  Russian thistle, aka "tumbleweed"