Plein Air Painting for Manitou Invitational Show

"Fountain Creek at Briarhurst" - 14x11 oil

From June 20 - 30th, over 25 Colorado artists painted scenes in and around the historic town of Manitou Springs, CO. We were invited by gallery owner, Jayme Rago, to participate in this exciting and challenging event that she has hoseted and coordinated for 8 years.

In the theme of my leanings - my prefernce of painting interior landscapes - I spent my time capturing the dappling light on Fountain Creek, which runs through town. In this scene, the speed in which the light changed was very evident and this forced me to return to the same location three or four times. In fact, I painted two scenes from this location and I will display that image in the next day or so.

Painting on location requires faster artistic decision making, along with dealing with the various outdoors elements. Plein air paintings tend to be less "polished." Can you see that here?

The show runs July 1-31, 2008 at the L.I.W. Cargo Gallery, located at 713 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO. 719-685-0452. The Artist's Reception is tonight, July 5th from 6-8pm.