Between the Reservoirs

I think you know how I am not feeling Plein Air and I are working out all that well.  I have trouble seeing the shapes, the values and capturing the color in the magnificent outdoors.  Last weekend we hiked at Curt Gowdy State Park, west of Cheyenne.   

http://www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Curt-Gowdy-State-Park/2843

Our destination was the Hidden Falls, about a three mile hike from the trail head and back, through open fields, aspen forests, pine beetle ravaged trees, pastures, over bridges and finally into the little area with a deep pool of water as it pours off a 15 foot water fall.  We visited with numerous hikers along the path as it is a fairly easy hike and the jewel of the falls at the end is worth it.

Between the Reservoirs  Pastel 9x12

While I took lots of reference photos my favorite area was on the way out of the park driving from Granite to Crystal reservoir.  The South Leg of Crow Creek created a lovely marshy area with fluffy grass.  this is what I painted when I returned.   

String Lake



String Lake pastel 9x12

 Gail is my pastel pal.  She recently attend a five day plein air workshop with Jim Wilcox in Jackson.  Her reference photo of String Lake was shared with the Weekly Art Challenge bunch and inspired me to get painting!.  I had been busy with framing for the Art on The Walls show at the YMCA.  Well actually supervising the framing since I married my framer, and that was before I knew he could be trained.  This painting is 9x12 on Wallis paper with a variety of pastels.  It will be at the show in August at the Y. 

Heron Dance

We are all so busy that the inbox becomes cluttered with email.  The one I do try to open, read and take a breath and assimilate is called Heron Dance.   Heron Dance is a nonprofit literary and art studio founded in 1994 by artist and the author Roderick MacIver.   http://www.herondance.org

He will tell you: I started Heron Dance in 1994 as a newsletter that explored what it means to live a meaningful life. The early years were exciting. They still are, but it is different now. Two years before starting the publication I had been diagnosed with a life threatening illness. Art became part of my cure; I taught myself how to draw and paint while in the hospital.  

Reflections of a Wild Artist evolved out of a life of searching, including a search for harmony with myself. The truths underlying life, the human experience, are contradictory, illusory and revealed only in glimpses. Even harder than realizing them is living them.

My work is multimedia, unpredictable: art and words combined in an effort to dig into what it means to live a well-lived life, a life that is its own work of art. 

You will find inspirational quotes, a journal question, and of course the art and philosophy  of the author.    

One of my favorite thoughts from Heron Dance
- An Open Life: Joseph Campbell in conversation with Michael Toms
You have to strive every minute to get rid of the life that you have planned in order to have the life that's waiting to be yours. Move. Move. Move into the transcendent. That's the whole sense of adventure, I think.
   
Take a moment to subscribe to Heron Dance on the link above and enjoy the art, the message and the journey.   

Porch Plein Air

Legacy Pky

It is just three short weeks that the  Prairies to Peaks plein air begins here in Cheyenne.   http://www.deselmsfineart.com/events/  Barbara and I decided to do some porch plein air.  I admit I am not accustomed to long hikes with my significant amount of gear to find a perfect  spot to paint.  Barbara just wanted to try capturing the outdoors as most of her painting has been from reference photos.  Many artists do nothing but plein air painting, finding their inspiration from all of creation.  The mountains, the lakes, buttes, wildlife, meadows and even the windmills, oil rigs and junkyards that coexist.  I am drawn to flowers and water.  So taking the easy route you see my study of the front yard on Legacy.  It still needs some work... values and composition, but that will have to wait as time is up.  

Barbara works BIG.  She had never tried doing the background in turponid to create some values and cover all that white surface.  After she got got home she worked a bit more and then decided to crop in half.  Great way to change it up and make a whole new composition.

Sea Glass - -

Oh it is lovely, pastel and soft after its rough and tumble life at sea.  A broken bottle that never made it with its note across the ocean.  A ship wreck or simply garbage tossed about, will come back after a storm or the right tidal action.  According to Wikipedia Sea glass can be found all over the world, but the beaches of the northeast United States, California, northwest England, Mexico, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Nova Scotia, Australia, Italy and southern Spain are known for their bounty.  Niece Lindsay can find sea glass in the northwest United States all around the shores of Washington. It began as a bit of a hobby when she moved to Sequim WA.   Lindsay and her partner Mary Beth started West Coast Sea Glass and it is now a business that allows Lindsay be a stay at home mom.  http://www.westcoastseaglass.com/index.html

Lindsay has a real knack for finding the hidden gems.  We sat on the beach near their home Tacoma and she found several glass shards as we chatted about her next show at the lavender festival in Sequim coming up next week.  If you are in Washington you should go!


If you click the link you will see their jewelry and can even buy the sea glass for your own use,  There is also lots of history and you can learn why red sea glass is rare.  

Ahh ....no more drift wood collecting for me.  I will see if I can find sea glass.  It will be tough in Cheyenne WY but another trip awaits and it will have a shore.  

Oh, The show at the YMCA is up and the reception is on July 15 from 5 to 6 PM.  Hope to see you there.  

Art on the Walls at the Y

Field Poppies 6x7 Pastel  $48

It is a busy time this summer.  Ya would think I could be painting but there is a another show coming up at the YMCA.  Chris Shay invited me and my friend Gail to do a show that will hang during July and August.  Getting ready for a show is not the most fun part of art but required if one wants to get their art into the world.  I had to update the inventory of paintings and determine if a piece should be held for a pending entry into a juried show.  And then there  is the framing to complete.  Many times a painting will be left unframed for just a bit more work or there just isn't enough time to get the framing done....  and the little show tags must be created.

The show will hang the beginning of July and the reception will be July 15th at the Y from 5 to 6 PM.  The Y is located just east of Holliday park accessed from 19th street.  

Market Finds 9x12 Pastel  $188

                                                       
See Gail's web site to see what she may be bringing. http://www.gailwatford.com/

You can email me direct at enliven.art@gmail.com


See you at the show.