2001-2003 Event Photos
2001 Arts for the Parks National Competition
The first national show that I had artwork accepted into was Arts for the Parks in Jackson, Wyoming in September of 2001. The show requires entry of a painting that was inspired by one of America's National Parks. Once entered, the paintings are narrowed down to the Top 200, then the Top 100 out of the thousands of entries that are received. My painting was included in the Top 100 paintings in the show.
Here is my painting, Sharing the Morning, Oil on Canvas, 22 x 28 inches.
I also did some painting while in Jackson for the show. This photo was taken at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park and that's my dad and grandpa distracting me! (Actually, I'm sure it was time for a break!)
2002 Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Competition
2002 was the first year I participated in the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Competition. It took place in Estes Park, Colorado and in nearby Rocky Mountain National Park.
This is a photo of Chuck Mardosz as he and I painted together at Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. (His painting came out much better than mine!) Chuck was so generous in helping me as I was first starting out as a fine artist and he continues to help and inspire me with his work.
2002 Workshop with Matt Smith
In September, I took an outdoor painting workshop through Cottonwood Artists' School in Colorado Springs, Colorado with the great landscape painter Matt Smith.
Here is Matt as he demonstrated for us at Garden of the Gods Park. The workshop was a great help to me in all areas of painting, but mostly I remember Matt helping me understand the importance of composition and using texture in my paintings to add interest.
Here is Matt's finished painting (I'm sure the photo doesn't do it justice).
This is one of my paintings from the workshop, In the Heat of the Day, Oil on Linen, 8 x 10 inches.
This is another one of my paintings from the workshop, Open Space, Oil on Linen, 8 x 10 inches.
2002 Trip to Southern Spain
In October, I took my first trip overseas to the southern coast of Spain with a large group of other artists to paint the Spanish countryside. We stayed in Torremolinos but traveled by bus to other painting locations including Ronda, Granada, Olvera, and Nerja. We also took a day trip to Gibraltar and Morocco.
This is a view from our hotel looking out over Torremolinos to the Mediterranean Sea beyond.
This is a street in Olvera, a nearby town we visited to paint. The whole town looked very much like this picture which was a nice change compared to the bustling, big city feel of Torremolinos.
Nerja was a coastal town which we were told would have local fishing boats to paint, but we didn't find any!
One of the days was set aside for a visit to Gibraltar which took a few hours to reach by bus. It turned out to be one of the most interesting places I've ever visited! It's a very tiny country which is actually controlled by England and includes little more than the Rock itself. This photo was taken while still in Spain as we approached the border to enter Gibraltar.
Here is a view looking down from the Rock. There is a lot of history in Gibraltar because of it's strategic location which allows it to watch over a narrow passage into the Mediterranean Sea. It's only about 12 miles across the water to the coast of Morocco on the other side.
Inside the Rock is a series of caves in which many prehistoric relics have been found, but a series of tunnels was also started in 1782 which was used to help defend Gibraltar. The tunnels were added onto over time and there are now over 30 miles of tunnels inside the Rock.
Another surprising fact about Gibraltar is that a group of apes makes it their home. It is uncertain how the apes came to live in Gibraltar, but there are over 250 of them living on the Upper Rock.
This is a view of the northern end of Gibraltar with the Moorish Castle visible on the hillside. The castle tower is thought to date back to the early 14th century.
Here's another view of the north end of the Rock as we near the border of Spain. Just on the Gibraltar side of the border is an airstrip that was built in 1939 and extended during World War II using ground reclaimed from the ocean. The road from the mainland into Gibraltar actually crosses the airstrip and must be closed when planes are taking off or landing.
Ok, back into Spain! This is a beach very close to our hotel in Torremolinos where we found some fishing boats to paint.
One of our day trips was to Granada, the city where the Alhambra Palace is located (off in the distance in the photo). The fortress is thought to have existed since the ninth century and was added onto many times throughout the centuries. It is now set aside as a national monument.
Another view of Granada.
Some of our group returned to Granada later in the trip in order to tour the Alhambra. Unfortunately I didn't join them which means I'll have to go back someday just for that!
This beautiful town is called Ronda and it sits on a plateau that is divided by a river gorge that plunges about 600 feet. The town is also home to the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain.
This is a view of the magnificent bridge that spans the river gorge. It is referred to as the "New Bridge" although it was started in 1751.
This is one of Ronda's streets.
We visited another nearby coastal town called Torre del Mar and found these wonderful fishing boats. I think our entire group encirled the boats and proceeded to paint them. When I was about halfway done with my painting, a man emerged from inside the red and white boat and was quite shocked to find that his boat had become such an attraction. (I guess he must have been sleeping inside the boat or something.) Anyway, he stayed in the boat and worked on it while we finished our paintings (I included him in my painting), so we all chipped in and gave him some money in gratitude.
Here is a painting I did on the beach near our hotel in Torremolinos,
Fishing Boat, Spain, Oil on Linen, 10 x 12 inches.
This is a view of a nearby town called Velez-Malaga.
A group of us decided to return to Ronda for another chance to paint there. This is Chuck Mardosz as he painted the "New Bridge" in the background.
Here I am as I painted from another bridge overlooking the countryside. (Thanks to Debra Rose for this photo.)
This is a view along the way back to Torremolinos from Ronda.
This is a famous mansion in Torremolinos that is pictured on many tourist postcards. We searched around town until we found it.
We spent one day to travel back to Gibraltar to then take a jet boat across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangiers, Morocco. You can make out the Rock as we leave it behind us.
This is a small shop in Tangiers.
Tangiers was crammed full of people along the narrow streets, many of whom tried desperately to sell things to us tourists. Unfortunately, I ran out of film in Tangiers so I don't have many pictures of the city.
At the end of the trip, our hotel staff offered us an art show of the paintings we did during our stay. They even provided some prizes for the paintings they liked the best! My painting of the man in his boat from Torre del Mar ended up winning the artists' choice award.
2003 Trip to Arizona and California
In August, Sarah and I traveled to Arizona and California with a couple of artist friends to look at galleries and the rest of the art scene. We visited Scottsdale, Arizona with its many galleries, then went on to California and basically drove up the coast from Laguna Beach all the way to Carmel. And yes, it was a HOT time of year to drive through the Southwest!
Here's a random portion of Arizona (or possibly New Mexico) as we drove along.
This is a beautiful scene just outside of Scottsdale, Arizona.
Here's a shot of Laguna Beach, California that Sarah took the day we arrived.
This is a portion of the beach in Santa Barbara, California.
Here's some of the coast as we approached Carmel, California.
Some more of the jagged coastline.
This is some of the coast at Carmel.
We finally got a chance to do some painting when we got to Santa Cruz, California. This is Mark Day as he worked on his painting.
And here's Kay Jeansonne.
And here I am! It was obviously a beautiful day for painting. This beach in Santa Cruz features an amusement park that you get a glimpse of in the background of the photo.
This is my finished painting, Santa Cruz Beach, Oil on Linen, 10 x 12 inches.
2003 Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Competition
Also in August, I participated in the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Competition in Estes Park, Colorado.
This is one of my paintings from the event, Shady Stream, Oil on Linen, 10 x 12 inches.
Here I am painting during the "Quick Draw" in which all the artists had only 90 minutes to complete our paintings.
That's me on the right talking with John Burton (left) and Trent Gudmundsen (center) after the quick draw. Actually, I think they're ignoring me!