December 20, 2012

Red Caboose 6x8 oil

PAAC Paint out in downtown Littleton.  This is near the Historic Depot.

December 18, 2012

Winter Creek 8x8 oil

PAAC paint out at Lair O' the Bear.  This is the same spot where I painted on June 19th.

December 13, 2012

Milk Jugs 6x8 oil

PAAC paint out at Littleton Historical Museum.

December 11, 2012

Round Barn in Winter 8x8 oil

PAAC paint out at Delaney Farm.

December 6, 2012

Civic Center Lights 8x10 oil

PAAC paint out at Civic Center Park, downtown Denver.

November 29, 2012

Hildebrand Barn 6x8 oil

PAAC paint out at Hildebrand Ranch Park.

November 20, 2012

Fall River View 6x8 oil

PAAC paint out at Prospect Park.  Nice park with lots of painting possibilities.

November 15, 2012

Cloudy Morning 6x8 oil

PAAC paint out at Writers Vista park.  The mountains were beautiful on this cool, cloudy morning.  Just as I finished, a large flock of geese flew over, the sun came out from behind the clouds, and the scene changed.

November 14, 2012

Chamisa Glow 6x8 oil

Chamisa glowing in the morning light.  I had fun today putting layers of thick paint on this small canvas.

November 8, 2012



Fall at Spruce Mountain 6x8 oil

 PAAC paint out at Spruce Mountain Open Space.  I was glad I got the colors down before the sun went behind the clouds.

November 7, 2012

Flatirons 6x8 oil

The view from the Boulder Rec Center.

October 30, 2012






Snowy Mountain 8x10 oil

PAAC paint out at Mt Falcon Park.

October 25, 2012



First Snow at the Canyon 14x11 oil

PAAC paint out at Castlewood Canyon State Park.  We got our first snow of the season last night, and the Canyon was beautiful.  Everything was dusted with about 4" of fresh white snow.  It was cloudy, so the colors were very subtle.  It almost looked like a black a white photograph everywhere, with a few tints of green and orange.

October 23, 2012

Fall Yucca and Grasses 12x12 oil

PAAC paint out at Deer Creek Canyon Park.  Very windy at first, with a storm coming in.  The wind died down for a while, and it was hot and sunny.  The grasses in the distance were very light in the sun, they seemed almost white.

October 18, 2012



Chatfield Boats 11x14 oil

 PAAC paint out at Chatfield State Park.  It was a great day to be on the beach and paint the sailboats.

October 16, 2012



Genesee View 11x14 oil

 PAAC paint out at Chief Hosa and Genesee.  This is the first long-range view of the mountains that you see when you drive west from Denver on I-70.  When you get to the top of the hill, the mountain range is revealed as you drive under the bridge.  The mountains looked especially nice today with a fresh dusting of snow.

Fall Trees at Matthews/Winters 11x14 oil

On the way home, I stopped at Matthews/Winters park to paint some fall trees.

October 15, 2012

Scrub Oak 11x14 oil

A nice fall day to paint the scrub oak colors at Dawson Butte Ranch. Everywhere I looked, the bushes were shades of red, orange and yellow.

October 11, 2012

Green Truck 11x14 oil

PAAC paint out at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield.  I had planned to paint pumpkins again, but this truck seemed to be calling my name.  While I was painting, it was fun to think about the people it might have carried, and the places it might have gone in the last 82 years.

October 9, 2012



Pumpkin Patch 11x14 oil

 PAAC Paint Out at Hudson Gardens.  Lots of painters attended, and some excellent pumpkin paintings were created!

October 5, 2012



Pumpkins and Flowers 20x24 oil

The weather was cold again today.  I stayed in my nice warm studio and painted this still life.  I really like the way the warm colors look against the gray wall.

October 4, 2012



The Other Side of the Tracks 11x14 oil

PAAC paint out at Columbine Open Space. What a change in weather from yesterday!  Very cool and windy today, a taste of things to come.  The hillside had some great fall color.  As I was packing up, a train went by and I had a front row seat.

October 3, 2012

Cosmos 11x14 oil

I spent the day painting at the Denver Botanic Gardens.  It was a beautiful warm fall day, and I wanted to paint the flowers before they freeze.

October 2, 2012



Noell's Barn 11x14 oil

 PAAC paint out near Genesse.  Noticed when I was done that the barn seems to be tilted a bit downhill.  It seems appropriate for October, reminds me of a haunted house.

September 28, 2012

Guanella Pass 11x14 oil

PAAC Paint Out.  It's been a while since I drove up Guanella Pass.  They've really improved the road - it's been paved on the Georgetown side.  I painted at an overlook with a view of the road back to the town.

September 25, 2012



Central City 11x14 oil

 PAAC Paint Out.  I started in Nevadaville, but ended up painting in Central City. The town has many beautiful historic buildings, which they've worked hard to preserve.

September 24, 2012

Bush with Red Leaves 12x12 oil

Paint Out with Don Barnes at Golden Gate Canyon State Park.  This little bush near the parking lot caught my eye - it had very bright red leaves that almost looked like berries.  This is my first square painting. I don't know why I waited so long, square is a good format!

September 21, 2012

Aspen Shadows 16x20 oil

Last day of the Don Sahli workshop in Ashcroft Ghost Town near Aspen.

September 20, 2012



Ghost Town 16x20 oil

 We met in Ashcroft, a ghost town about 12 miles from Aspen. The aspen were at their peak in this area, and it was hard to decide which view to paint.  We voted to return to this location for a second day.


Fall Trees 16x20 oil



September 19, 2012



Green Gate 20x24 oil

 Today we painted at a sod farm near Carbondale, with a great view of Mt. Sopris.  Still very hazy today.


Chamisa and Rocks 16x20 oil



September 18, 2012



Mountain Pond 16x20 oil

 I spent the week in Aspen at a workshop with Don Sahli.  We met on Owl Creek Rd behind the Airport.  Don did a quick demo, then we painted the pond.  It was hazy all week because of fires, which made the distant mountains almost blend in with the sky.

September 13, 2012

Daniels Park 11x14 oil

PAAC Paint Out.  After a day of much-needed rain, the sun came out and we had a beautiful morning for painting.

September 11, 2012

Sunflowers and Lemons 20x24 oil

September 7, 2012



Mixed Zinnias 16x20 oil

 This is a view of my annual bed in my front yard.  It's filled in quite well after a rough spring.  I planted the small Zinnias from seed in May, and they were just coming up when we got a major hail storm.  The garden was covered with pea sized hail.  After a couple of weeks, some of the plants around the edges started coming back, but there were large empty spots.  So I went to the garden center and bought some larger-flowered Zinnias in the same colors. They have finally all filled in now that summer is almost over.  This was a fun to paint, I wanted to capture the many different blooms, and the shades of red, peach, pink, and orange.

September 4, 2012

Watermelon and Cherries 20x24 oil

Class at Don Sahli's studio in Evergreen.  Don was happy that he found a watermelon with seeds for us to paint!  They're pretty hard to find these days.

August 30, 2012

The Rock 9x12 oil

PAAC Paint Out at Rock Park in Castle Rock.  This is the rock that Castle Rock is named after.  I've seen it countless times driving down I-25, but never really looked at it closely.

I tried a different method with this painting.  I picked the four main values of the scene, and pre-mixed them on the palette.  The colors were for the sky, the foliage in sun, foliage in shadow, and rock in shadow.  When I compared them on the palette, I could see that I had mixed the sky and the rock shadow too light.  So I adjusted them on the palette.  I think this really helped the painting. I'm going to do this more often.  Once I had the main blocks of color on the canvas, I added variations and accents and I was done!  I think this one reads quite well in black and white.

August 29, 2012

Buffalo Overlook 11x14 oil

 Denver Plein Air Arts Fest.  I painted at the Buffalo Overlook in the morning.  There were lost of artists lined up along the fence painting the buffalo.  It was hot and windy, so this was a quick study.  Then I went over to Christie's of Genesee and recharged on the shady patio.  Thanks to Jane Christie for drinks and appetizers!  She's an excellent pastel artist.

Christie's Flowers 8x10 oil

August 25, 2012



Lookout Mountain 11x14 oil

 Denver Plein Air Arts Fest.  The mountains looked hazy from the top of Lookout Mountain, so there isn't much variation in value here.  I enjoyed the company of the other artists and had a great lunch on the patio, courtesy of the Pahaska Tepee Trading Post.

August 23, 2012



Sharptail Ridge Block-In 6x12, oil

Sharptail Ridge 6x12, oil

PAAC Paint Out.  I used a small canvas with a wide format today.  It was cloudy and the light stayed pretty consistent.

August 21, 2012

Juniper Pass Morning View 12x16 oil

Juniper Pass Afternoon View 12x16, oil

PAAC Paint out.  It was a very pleasant day at the pass, about 70 degrees, a little hazy, and the air was very still.  I painted the morning scene with a palette knife, and the afternoon scene with a brush.

August 20, 2012



Abstract 20x24 oil

I just felt like playing with the paint today.  I layered color on the canvas with a palette knife, then scraped off the excess paint.  This reminds me of a bouquet of flowers.  I may use it as a backdrop for another painting, or leave it as is.

August 19, 2012

Red Rocks View 11x14 oil

Denver Plein Air Arts Fest at Red Rocks Park.  I've been to Red Rocks many times, but never when I wasn't attending a show.  How nice to be able to park close and explore the area!  I found a great view of downtown Denver - it was fun to paint the skyline in contrast with the rocks.

August 16, 2012

Hidden Mesa Sunset 9x12 oil

PAAC sunset Paint Out.  My energy level was high because I was running late and had to hurry down to Castle Rock before the sun went down.  I decided to have some fun with this one and use bold color and strokes.  It was kind of a release for me after painting the last two very detailed paintings.

August 15, 2012

Mansion Garden 11x14 oil

Denver Plein Air Arts Fest at Grant Humphreys Mansion.  This was a fun event, with quite a few artists attending.  I've lived here all of my life, but never been to the Mansion.  This area caught my eye with the daylilies and the grasses glowing in the morning sun.  I enjoyed visiting with the other artists, and made some new friends.