MAGICAL MOMENTS IN THE MOUNTAINS

SALLY AND CHUCK, the best people and hosts in Colorado!

Snow is still clinging to the land in the higher elevations.

Magnificent mountains make magical memories.

COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Sally told me that these mountain sunflowers always face south.

I know it wasn't there when I took the picture, but do you see the bear that I see?

The Fireweed was plentiful in some areas. Another name for this wildflower is "Blooming Sally"!

Sally takes another low angle shot in a high mountain meadow.
See more of Colorado in "Older Posts".

MORE PHOTOS FROM MY TRIP TO THE ROCKIES

The tall and short of it among the Aspen forest.

The variety of wildflowers was astounding. By the end of a day of sight seeing,
I was contentedly savoring a feeling of visual overload.

I had to get my wildflower guide out for this one. This meadow contains Silvery Lupine, Scarlet Paintbrush, Sulphur Paintbrush, Cow Parsnip, Fireweed and more.

Early Morning Visitors

Sally woke me up bight and early this morning and said; "We have visitors!" Two of the eight horses that had broken out of the field across the street were busily trimming the grass in her yard. Here's a picture of her breakfast guests. Visit Sally's blog at Natural Images by Sally Vennel.

This picture shows part of the herd that decided to stay home.
See more Colorado pictures in "older posts".

Wildflowers and Panoramic Views

We went out driving in the mountains yesterday. The wildflowers are plentiful and the views are spectacular.


Sally showed me how to get the best shots.


Six species of Paintbrush thrive in the Rocky Mountains and offer an array of beautiful color. This is a Rosy Paintbrush.

A Mountain Road in Colorado

It was cloudy and we could hear thunder and see rain off in the distance. (I used this photo as reference for my drawing demo at the Rijks Gallery in Crested Butte on Thursday.) See my sketch on www.Sketchingeveryday.com,
posted Friday, July 25th.


These two pictures were taken on the dirt road that leads to Gothic, just beyond my friends' house. Isn't the scenery just B R E A T H T A K I N G !

Home on the Range

A view from the back of the Vennel's house where I am staying.

See the stable in the background. Right across the road is a place where they rent out horses for trail rides. It is fun to watch the lines of horses going up and down the mountains in the distance. They've got over 50 horses there. I went over this morning and got my "horse fix" for the day.

These ponies stand ready to start the early morning shift.

Even the outhouse looks pretty nestled among the wildflowers.

Colorado Trip

I'm traveling light this trip. Here's a picture of my little sketching box and two different sized sketch books I brought along with me. I did throw in some colored pencils right before I left the studio this morning. I used the small sketchbook on the plane today and did a few paintings using my pencil and wash technique. See my Colorado drawings, starting July 22nd on my Sketching Everyday Blog.

Colorado Rockies

On Tuesday I'll be flying out to Denver Colorado. From there I'll be going by car to Crested Butte. I can hardly wait to see the mountains alive with vibrant wildflowers!

My next workshop, Sept. 12th - 14th is filled! Spaces are still available for the Sept. 20th -21st Workshop. Click on this banner to get more information.

Ahhhh, They're Gone!

Pictures of my cats in the studio after the workshop students left on Sunday. The cats were not very happy with being locked out during the seminar and really enjoyed the privilege of being let back in. There was a lot of smelling, rolling, rubbing and purring!

More Student Work

Some pretty good looking pine trees emerged after the second attempt. See my tree demos on my 2008 Sketching Everyday blog.

My Students' Workshop Work

So much improvement was accomplished over the past few days! It's amazing!!

Students' LOOSE FLOWERS

EVERYONE TODAY DID REAL WELL WITH THIS WET IN WET TECHNIQUE!

A VIEW OF MY STUDIO AFTER THE DEMO.

Tigger Checks Out the Artwork

After the students left for the day, our newest art critic took a peek at today's workshop paintings. See more on today's Spirit Art Blog and Sketching Everyday.

TREES ~ "en plein air"

Today was an interesting day weather-wise. We went through half a dozen different conditions at least. Misty fog at 6am, then clearing to beautiful crisp 70's by 8. Clouding over by noon with a deluge at 2. Then clearing, cloudy, sprinkles and brilliant sun here again at five pm. It feels like three days rolled into one! I went out sketching "en plein air" ("in the open air") today. Three different spots and three different weather conditions! Fortunately I was in the studio during the downpour. This is a picture of a tree up the road from me. It's one of my favorites! See my gesture sketch on Sketching Everyday.

Self Education

Be kind... invest in you! Develop your potential and try not to be too hard on yourself. It's a little over a week until the start of my 2008 Spirit Art Workshop. "A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind." ~ James Allen