THE LAST OF MY COLORADO PHOTOS

OK, it's been almost three weeks since I got home from the Colorado Rockies. I've still got some photos on my desktop that I wanted to post, so here's a few more for your enjoyment!

This is Gothic Mountain, located less than a day's horseback ride from Crested Butte.

The Aspens made me feel very small beneath the canopy so high up in the sky.

We enjoyed picture perfect weather as you can see by my photos.

Sally's Natural Images of Colorado

I'm so grateful to have Sally Vennel as a friend. Her generosity really is overwhelming. She and her husband put me up in their gorgeous home for a week and took me out to all the most beautiful spots around Crested Butte. A wonderful photographer, Sally also let me download any of her photos that I wanted to use as reference for paintings. See more of her recent July Colorado shots on her blog. Here are some of my favorites. Thanks a million Sally.

I love this shot of an old fir tree stump.

Here's a shot of me in a typical Colorado pose.

Sally's quick reations get her the good shots. This one is of a
Weidemeyer's Admiral.

I love this photo of our early morning visitors as they were making their retreat back to the stable.

Last but not least, this magical shot of Crested Butte Mountain and ski slope was taken from her dining room window.

Visit Sally's blog at Natural Images by Sally Vennel. Leave her a comment and tell her Sandy sent you!

Look Deep Into Nature

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
~ Albert Einstein

NATURE GETS INTO MY SOUL

The mountain streams are still rushing with snow run off
and plentiful summer rainfall.

This is a log jam on Dollar Lake where we hiked my last day in the mountains.


"Nature gets into our souls and opens doors to hidden parts of ourselves."
~ Pamela Heyda

LOVE OF NATURE

Sally took this photo of me standing next to a dirty patch of late July snow.

The Blue Columbine were beautiful and plentiful in some elevations.

This is a shot from Lost Lake where we hiked on my last day in the Rockies.

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."
~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Watercolor Class Demonstration

I probably bit off more than my students could handle today. I tried to do two paintings in two hours but it turned out to be more like four. Here's my "color" version of today's demo. I hope all you participants can finish up your paintings at home and I can see them next time we get together! The black and white version of this painting can be seen on Sketching Everyday

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