Even though our iconic aspens only show off their beautiful colors for a few weeks in the autumn, they are an irresistible subject to paint year round.  I think it's for multiple reasons - the hues of the aspens are so varied, the delicacy of the leaves are fun to capture, and yellow itself is such a challenging pigment to paint with.  It can easily be overwhelmed by other colors in a painting, so to manage it well is an achievement.  And yellow is such a happy color - it always makes me smile!

Original acrylic on canvas on panel, the painting continues around the sides for a beautiful finish, ready to hang with no framing necessary. 

#aspen art,#dailypaintings,#aspens,#colorado springs,#acrylicpainting,#interior design ideas

When I first moved to Colorado, our summer afternoons always included a fast-moving rain shower.  Last week, I saw the cl ouds heading our way, and the rain slanting down, a perfect backdrop for the red sandstone of Garden of the Gods.

I used bold juicy strokes of paint, and interpretive color to show the dynamic energy of the air and rain stirring up the landscape - the bold strokes can be difficult to manage, requiring some dexterity in handling the paint, but worth the effort for the story they tell.   You can almost read the motion of the brush as you look at the individual strokes.

Looking at this painting, I feel the moving energy of the living landscape, and remember the joy and challenge of the moving brush, the mixing of the paint - this painting makes me feel alive!

#gardenofthegods, #colorado, #coloradolandscape, #contemporarypainting,#modernimpressionism,#interiordesignideas@visitcos ,@gardenofthegodscolorado #boldbrush

This lovely view of Pikes Peak was painted on location on the first day of summer!  I love the flowers in the foreground, framing the beautiful colors of the peak, and the lovely turquoise sky - and I especially enjoyed the one red poppy in the midst of the garden.

I'll often take my paints and Piper, the Plein Air Dog, out on location to paint.  I get pretty absorbed in the scene I am painting, and Piper's job is to keep an eye out for varmints and alert me if there's something I need to watch out for - last year, I was painting and suddenly, a voice at my shoulder says "well, that's pretty nice!"  A hiker had walked right up to me without me even hearing them - and where was Piper?  asleep under a willow bush.  Some guard dog!

Plein air painting is a very different experience than painting in the controlled environment of the studio.  Often, there are distracting environmental factors to contend with - wind, rain, sun, dirt, bugs and etc - and hiking around to find the perfect view.  I like to call it an outdoor sport - a lot of the prep is the same!  Hydrate, sunscreen, bug repellent.

You might wonder why an artist would put themselves through all of that, when they could just stay in a nice comfortable studio.  Well, I'll tell you - painting out on location, with all it's trials and difficulties, infuses the paintings with a lively, living quality, a freshness that comes from direct observation and the chi that infuses the natural world.  It gets into the painting, and into the artist too!

This direct response to the real world informs studio paintings too - it fills the well and the soul and gets into every artwork.  It makes me a better studio painter!

Original acrylic on gessoed panel, the painting continues around the sides for a beautiful finish, ready to enjoy with no framing necessary.

#pikes peak,#colorado springs,#pikes peak painting,#daily paintings,#colorado living,#interior design ideas,#visit cos