Painting wild places...

This weekend, Oct 27, my home studio/gallery will be open to the public as part of the ArtWorks Studio Tours. Hours are 10 - 5. Please contact me if you need directions. See new works produced this summer, browse the rest of my paintings, and check out the new work done in the Canadian Rockies.

I took part in a week-long trip to paint in the Canadian Rockies organized by Plein Air Magazine. I was there, along with about 75 other artists, from Oct 4 - 12 and had a wonderful time. We stayed in a beautiful lodge in the mountains, just a short distance from Banff National Park. One could literally walk out the door, head for an open area near the parking lot, and have multiple panoramic views of the surrounding mountains.

Did I mention they had recently had about 2 feet of snow? Like northern New York, where I live, the roads and sidewalks were all cleared, but everything else was covered with this blanket of brilliant white. I went expecting to be able to paint the golden leaves on the aspens and the yellowish-orange of the fall tamarack trees and I did - but they were often obscured or knocked down by the snow. I also had done my research and had trail maps and places I wanted to hike to, but I did not bring all the equipment needed for hiking in the snow (which when packed down got pretty slippery on some trails). That did not prove to be a problem because there were unlimited numbers of gorgeous views located at roadside pull-offs or trailhead parking areas. So I didn't get a lot of exercise, but did produce 10 paintings, some of which still need work.

 

In addition to the snow impacting the trip, there were also the bears. The early, heavy snow pushed them down out of the higher elevations, so there were warnings all around the lodge not to leave food in your car and to be cautious when walking the nearby trails. Those were the black bears. Then when driving out to some of the other more remote painting locations, there were more strongly worded signs that indicated these places were "Grizzly Bear Travel Corridors". I never got to see any, but other artists not only were told to pack up and leave certain locations, they actually got to watch (from their cars), as a mother grizzly and cubs passed by.

 

It's fortunate that I live in the Adirondacks and make a habit of going out to paint in the winter (has to be at least in the 20's, sunny, no wind), because I came prepared for that. There were painters there who not only had never painted snow, but had never experienced as much snow as we had! I'm going to include a few pictures of my paintings, although they won't be added to my website until I can do some final touch-ups on them. 

 

It's won't be long before it's gift-giving time. If a unique, one-of-a-kind painting for someone special who loves the Adirondacks is on your shopping list, I'd be happy to help with that!