Plein Air Rockies 2012 -final day and Quick Draw

"River Light", 12 x 9" plein air oil on board
SOLD
The finale of the painting part of the competition is the Quick Draw, in which the artists have 90 minutes to paint and frame a painting, and then the paintings are auctioned off in a live auction which follows immediately. It is a hectic time and very stressful for the artists! I chose to do the river which was just catching the morning light, casting it in a glowing golden light. I liked the idea of the coolness of the trees and rocks in the shadows contrasting with the sunbathed creek.

Here I am posing with the painting for the new owner. Hopefully she was able to get it back to her home without smearing the wet paint!! (please excuse the 'hat hair"!)

Later that evening the awards were announced and $12,000 in prizes given out. None to me, but I was just happy to have been invited to participate. The caliber of artists present was incredible, including many famous American artists (Jeff Legg , David Harms, Scott Freeman and Doug Braithwaite to name a few). It was truly humbling to be in such company, and they were all super nice people. I was fortunate to be able to snag a wonderful painting by watercolourist Gene Youngman, and I found out later that it was in the running for Best of Show. Lucky me : )

I was interviewed for the local newspaper and got a 2 page spread, which you can read here if you like. So ends another wonderful painting trip into the Rocky Mountain National Park. I wonder if I will be invited back again next year???

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies competition -day 4 & 5

 "Lumpies Gossips ii", 4 x 6" plein air oil on board
SOLD
SourceTek provided mini panels and frames for us to do a tiny painting on, as another part of the competition. I did a cool rock formation in the Lumpies Range, the same place I painted from last year. I loved how the rocks looked like two people deep in conversation -with a third turning their backs, hence the title.

"Long's From The Stanley Hotel", 9 x 12" plein air oil on board

I began this painting on day 2 just 1 hour before sunset, so needless to say I had to go back a couple of times to get it finished. This is the famous Long's Peak, one of Colorado's 14ers (peaks over 14,000 feet), and it is an icon in the area. (Incidentally my hubby climbed it a few days later, getting up at 3am in order to be off the peak mid-afternoon when the lightning often happens -that was the day after the painting was done for the competition, so I just slept and recuperated!)

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 3

 "Big Thompson Canyon", 9x12" plein air oil on board
SOLD

Monday it was very cloudy and cool, and the haze from the nearby forest fires was putting a damper on the views around town, so I knew I had to find a more intimate view. We drove back down the canyon and I found this place with the overhanging rocks that I thought would make an interesting painting. I wish it had of been sunny, because then I think the painting would have really had some punch. As it was, the values were very close and the colours were quite neutralized -not my natural inclination at all. I loved the dead pine tree in the back as it added a nice spark of colour, but I know that the locals are really grieving the pine beetle infestation that has been killing off a lot of their beautiful trees. This is the only painting that I did that did not make it into the show.

"Waiting Place", 10 x 8" plein air oil on board

On Monday evening we held the 'Nocturne Paint Out". This was only my second attempt at painting at night, and it was quite fun. I had a headlamp on so I could see what colour was on my brush, but the painting itself was getting some light from a nearby streetlamp. I did this in Riverside Park, the location of Saturday's quick paint. The exposure on this photo is not correct, the painting actually looks much better in reality. That's what happens when you are forced to shoot wet oils in less than perfect conditions!!!

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 2

 "Mrs. Walsh's Colours", 11x14" plein air oil on board

The second morning I went to a wonderful little garden right on the edge of downtown, created in honour of -you guessed it -Mrs Walsh! The space that was originally slated for more t-shirt shops and condos was rescued by Mrs Walsh and turned into a public garden. There wasn't much blooming while we were there, but when I saw the turquoise of the sage-family plants lit up by the sun I was hooked. Each participant in the competition could enter one piece painted in the garden as part of the show, and it had its own ribbon and award. The photo above is not very good, as the painting was very wet and shiny when I took the photo, but I think you get the idea. I didn't win the prize, but the judge from the quick draw did chose my painting as her personal favorite of the show, so I was very pleased!

"Fall River Calm", 11x14" plein air oil on board

I began this piece that same afternoon. By this time the wind had begun to blow and I nearly froze painting under the shade of a huge, old ponderosa pine, while my hubby was getting sunburned sitting 5 feet beside me reading a book and waiting for me to finish. I only got half of the painting done that day and had to return to finish it another day.

You might be wondering how I fared with my foot in a cast! Well, it definitely cramped my style as I could only paint within a few feet of the car, but the biggest effect I felt was that I just didn't have the stamina to paint that I have had in the past. I guess I hadn't taken into account the effect of being handicapped for the previous 7 weeks, and what that had done to degrade my physical conditioning. I was very thankful that my dear hubby went to all my painting spots with me, carting my gear for me, and then he entertained himself by hiking up whatever was nearby or by riding his bike for miles on the very steep park roads. He got tired physically and I was wiped emotionally and mentally at the end of the day.

All in all I am glad that I went, but I only produced 7 paintings compared to the 14 that I did the previous year, and I went back more than once for most of them -something I don't usually do. I did discover that it is a good thing to do if you can catch similar weather and light, because on the return I tended to simplify things which ended up in stronger paintings I think.

NEWS FLASH!!! I have just posted my workshop schedule for September and October on the right hand side of this blog, and on the 'Classes' section of my website. Perhaps you will be able to join me for an art adventure?

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 1

"Cascade -Big Thompson", 9x12" plein air oil on board
SOLD

This is the first painting I did during the Plein Air Rockies 2012 painting competition. We arrived on Saturday morning and I painted this from beside the long twisting road up to Estes Park -almost 20 miles of canyon with the Big Thompson River swooshing down, pretty amazing!

"Nature's Sculpture", 11x14" plein air oil on board

I began this painting after supper on the first day. I chose a panel that I had prepared with Gamblin's Oil Ground, which was way more slick on my board than I am used to (love it on canvas, but without any tooth, it became like glass). The paint just seemed to slide around, so I took advantage of this fact, and did some glazing and wiping away to develop the layers, as well as taking a rubber scrapper to add texture in some areas. I came back to this spot twice more before I finished this painting, which I entered into the competition, along with the one at the top of this post. I figured that it may not have been my very best work, but I doubted it would be ignored!! There is a neat mix of transparent vs opaque passages in the painting which makes it very compelling.

These paintings are in the show at the Cultural Arts Centre in Estes Park until the end of September if you are in the area and would like to see the show -it is amazing, and I am proud to be in such fine company -but more about that in the days to come : )

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)


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