2009 Event Photos
Trip to California
In February, Sarah and I visited Los Angeles for a week and took advantage of some of the many art museums in the area. I thought I'd share a few photos of some of my favorite paintings that we saw.
Here's Sarah at the Hammer Museum admiring John Singer Sargent's "Dr. Pozzi at Home", which he painted in 1881 at the ripe old age of 25.
Some close-ups of the hands.
This is another Sargent painting that we saw at the L.A. County Museum of Art. The title is "Mrs. Edward L. Davis and Her Son, Livingston Davis", which he painted in 1890.
This is a close-up of another painting we saw at LACMA, "Portrait of Marten Looten" by Rembrandt, which he painted in 1632. I thought it was pretty amazing how fresh it still looks -- almost like it had just been painted.
One of the great high-points of the trip for me was a show we saw at the Laguna Art Museum featuring the work of the early California impressionist, William Wendt. I've included a few of his paintings below.
from the Laguna Art Museum store.
Award at Glen Eyrie Paint Out
In May, I participated with several other artists in a special one-day painting event on the grounds of Glen Eyrie Castle in Colorado Springs, CO. We painted all around the area throughout the morning, and at noon we framed our paintings and submitted them for judging. Skip Whitcomb was the judge for the event and he chose my painting Light Through the Trees (pictured below) for the First Place award. The Navigators purchased both of my paintings from the event.
My painting Light Through the Trees, Oil on Linen, 6 x 10 inches
The other artists who received awards were Ken Riesterer and Shannon White, pictured with Gary Bradley (show organizer, far left) and award judge Skip Whitcomb (far right).
Plein Air Painting
I painted outdoors with artist friends several times throughout the year, so I thought I'd include a few photos from some of those excursions.
Here's Brett Weaver painting away during a January outing at a park in Denver.
Brett Weaver and Carl Bork visited Colorado Springs in March to paint with me in Garden of the Gods. (I just noticed that Brett is wearing the same outfit in both of the above photos. Maybe that green fleece jacket is the secret to his painting success!)
This is my painting from that outing, To the South.
I visited Salida, Colorado, in June to paint with Josh Beene (above) and Carl Ortman. Brett Weaver joined us there as well.
Josh and Brett painting the aspen trees.
My painting of the aspen trees, High Country Aspen.
Painting Workshops
I taught two painting workshops this year through Cottonwood Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs. In June, I enjoyed teaching a three-day plein air painting workshop. We had a great group for the workshop and even found some shade to paint in during the warm weather.
The photo shows our group during an exercise that allowed the participants to paint along step-by-step with me as I painted.
In August, I taught a three-day portrait painting workshop. My beautiful wife (and trusty model) Sarah, joined us once again as the model for one of the sessions.
Trip to South Colony Lakes
In September, Sarah and I joined some friends for a camping trip at the South Colony Lakes in southern Colorado. I had visited the area a few times before, but Sarah had never been. We enjoyed the time and achieved our goal of climbing Humboldt Peak (14,064 ft. elevation) during our stay. I'll share some photos below of the spectacular scenery of the area.
Our campsite was at an elevation of somewhere around 11,000 feet, with this view of Crestone Needle to make us feel really small.
I've climbed Crestone Needle (14,197 ft.) a couple of times, but gladly settled to just paint it during this trip.
This is a view from our campsite of Humboldt Peak as we set out for the top.
The scenery was breathtaking throughout the whole climb. Or maybe we were short of breath due to the lack of oxygen....
Our friend Jeremy flaunting his bravery near the top.
Sarah leading the way back to the campsite after a successful summit. Click here to see more photos from this trip.
Weekend with the Masters
I was fortunate to be able to attend the first Weekend with the Masters event, sponsored by American Artist magazine and held in Colorado Springs in September. The event brought world-renowned artists/instructors such as Richard Schmid, Dan Gerhartz, Scott Burdick, Sue Lyon, Kevin Macpherson, Jeremy Lipking, Scott Christensen, Quang Ho and others to share their knowledge and expertise together in one location. I greatly enjoyed the chance to meet some of the artists and see them demonstrate their skills in person. I'll include a few photos below, but you can see many more by clicking here.
Jeremy Lipking during one of his demonstrations.
David Leffel talking to the crowd during a demonstration.
Sarah enjoyed modeling for a couple of the artists' portrait demonstrations. Here she is with Scott Burdick and his painting of her.
Windows to the Divine Exhibition
I was invited to participate in the October Windows to the Divine® Exhibition & Sale; the most comprehensive juried exhibit of spiritual art in the country, and the focal point of the Fra Angelico Celebration. The exhibition featured more than 100 original works of art by emerging and known local, regional and national artists. The content of the show was not confined to explicitly religious or sacred subjects, but also included landscapes, still life, figurative, contemporary and traditional ethnographic. Many spiritual paths were represented, including artists from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Native American traditions. Windows to the Divine® was exhibited at The MADDEN Museum of Art in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
My painting Clouds Overhead, which sold during the exhibition.
Opening reception at the MADDEN Museum of Art.
Award at American Impressionist Society National Show
Also in October, I participated in the American Impressionist Society 10th Annual National Show at Saks Galleries in Denver, Colorado. The juror of awards for this show was artist Quang Ho, who gave the First Place award to my painting Sand Creek (pictured below). The award is a great honor not only because it was given by such an esteemed artist, but also because of the high-quality of all the other works in the show. There were 644 entries submitted for the show; 189 of those were accepted and included in the exhibition.
Quang Ho presenting the award to me at the opening reception (my painting is visible on the wall in the background).
My painting Sand Creek.