Window Through Time

My watercolor landscape "Window Through Time" has been selected for the 2015 Wyoming Governor's Show at the Wyoming State Museum from January 5th through March 6th.

Homespun

Received the Founder's Award for my watercolor portrait "Homespun" in the Lines into Shapes Show at the Art Center of Estes in Estes Park, Colorado.  To view the other winners, http://www.artcenterofestes.com/LIS/DisplayPage.aspx?year=2014&lis=2-059&jury=no&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu

Arrived in Honolulu yesterday afternoon.  This morning we walked the esplanade from Waikiki Beach to Kapiolani  Park where we enjoyed a great view of Diamondhead.  We enjoyed walking beneath the banyan trees. We found several birds that were new to me, the Java sparrow, waxbill, red-crested Cardinal, etc.  Cowboy Joe tailgate here at the Marriott before the game.  Perfect weather, perfect day, all except the final score!

Haleakala National Park, Maui

Today we got an early start driving from Kahana to Haleakala National Park where we took a 3 mile hike with a wonderful native naturalist guide on a Nature Conservancy easement at Hosmer's Grove.  We saw native flora and fauna including the apapane, amakihi and I'iwi.  We enjoyed seeing the endangered Hawaiian goose, the nene, as well.  After the hike we drove to the summit to see the crater and also the Silversword plant.  Saw chukars in the visitor center parking lot, too.  Tomorrow we fly to Honolulu for the football game.  Have really enjoyed our time here in Maui.

Maui, Hawaii

Arrived in Maui the afternoon of the fourth, guess I have been on Island Time.  We took the road to Hana on the fifth, and enjoyed the lush tropical vegetation with waterfalls along the way.  We stopped and hiked to Twin Falls where we saw Palm trees, banana trees, and many beautiful flowers along the way.  Tuesday we visited Kilea Ponds and walked the boardwalk and swam in the Pacific Ocean.  Yesterday we visited Kilea Ponds National Wildlife Refuge where we saw the Hawaiian Stilt and the Hawaiian coot along with shorebirds, herons and egrets.  In the afternoon we visited the Maleea Harbor and the Maui Ocean Center there.  Wonderful exhibits with brightly colored reef fish, green sea turtles etc.  Today we took the Four Winds to Molokini Crater where we snorkeled and saw the fish in their natural habitat.  We also saw the Great Frigatebirds that feed on the Shearwater chicks nesting on the other side of the Sanctuary.  Saw Green Sea Turtles in the ocean on the way back to the Bay.

Window Through Time selected for Art Steamboat

This watercolor painting "Window Through Time" was one of thirty selected by juror Betsy Dillard Stroud for the Art Steamboat Show.  From the website: "New for 2014 is Art Steamboat, a juried art show that will showcase the spectacular and diverse artworks of thirty finalists from the Rocky Mountain region. The pieces will be displayed in art galleries and alternative venues in Steamboat Springs throughout the All Arts Festival beginning August 1, showcasing unique artistic talents in Steamboat’s idyllic mountain setting.  The art competition culminates on August 15 with a celebratory awards reception where the grand prize of $10,000 will be awarded to an artist and each piece will be available for sale to the public. "

Wyoming Wilderness Association Traveling Art Exhibition

My watercolor painting "Wandering Through Wilderness" has been selected for the Wyoming Wilderness Association Traveling Art Show celebrating Wyoming's Wilderness and the fiftieth anniversary of The Wilderness Act.  The 25 selected works of art will be on exhibit at the Sagebrush Community Art Center in Sheridan from September 3rd to October 3rd, at the Craig Thomas Discovery Center in Moose, Wyoming from October 6th through November 1st, and the Berry Biodiversity Center in Laramie, Wyoming from November 5th through the 30th.

Jean Meunchrath, Artist in Residence Coordinator & Joy Keown with painting donation

Traveled to Rocky Mountain National Park last Wednesday to deliver my watercolor painting "Across the Valley" to Jean Meunchrath, Artist in Residence Coordinator for Rocky.  The painting is done from Lumpy Ridge and looks across the valley of Estes Park to Longs Peak in the distance. The painting is done from the same location where Birger Sandzen did his work "Long's Peak".  I totally enjoyed the two weeks in Rocky as an Artist in Residence and the many months of preparation for my project in Rocky. 

Queenstown, Otago, South Island, New Zealand

We flew across "the big ditch" or the Tasman Sea, from Sidney to Christchurch, New Zealand, and then took a coach to Queenstown.  We have enjoyed spectacular scenery here where "The Lord of the Rings" was filmed.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Walter Peak with a Sheep shearing demo.  Although NewZealand is known for its sheep ranching and fine woolens, the dairy industry and wineries are also important to the New Zealand economy.  yesterday we took a coach to Fjiordlands National Park and toured Milford Sound with spectacular scenery  as well as bottle nose dolphins and NZ for seals.  One of my favorites was the Chasm hike through fern filled forests to a beautiful waterfall that has carved  the igneous rock.

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Visited the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and found many beautiful plants in bloom.  Took a tour of Darling Harbour and stopped at the Sydney Opera House for a tour,.  What a work of art this structure is!  Visited Bondi Beach and walked barefoot in the sand, wetting our toes in the Pacific Ocean.  Lots of surfers and swimmers, but a little cool for swimming.  Today we saw The Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains.  Tomorrow we fly to Christchurch, NewZealand.

Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Yesterday we took Sunlover Boat to Moore Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef where we snorkeled  and saw many beautiful tropical fish, coral reef, and turtles.  Today we visited the tropical rainforest arriving by train in Kuranda.  We visited bird world where we saw many beautiful tropical birds.  The return trip by sky rail was fantastic.  We made a couple of stops where we walked in the tropical rainforest.  We then visited Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Park where we learned about playing the didgeridoo, spear throwing and boomerangs.

Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, Australia

Arrived in Alice Springs yesterday and toured the old telegraph station, The School of the Air, and Flying Doctors.  We traveled from Alice Springs to Ulura where we visited the Olga's in Tata Tjuta national park and enjoyed a sunset viewing of Uluru.  Today we hiked to a waterhole at the base of Uluru where we saw pictographs and enjoyed the landscape.  We visited the aboriginal cultural center.  We enjoyed watching aboriginal women painting.  Their art has lots of dots which represents the spinifex grass from the air.  Flew from Ayers Rock to Cairns and could see the circular patterns represented in the aboriginal art.

Melbourne Australia

We  arrived in Melbourne on May seventh, via LA to Auckland, crossing the International Dateline and losing May sixth entirely.  We enjoyed a city tour visiting St Paul's church , the outdoor market, Little Italy  and Fitzroy Gardens.  In the afternoon we took a tour to Prince Phillip Island, following the Nobbies along the coast to see wallabys in the wild as the sun was setting .  The ocean breeze from the south was brisk with Antarctica only 2000 miles away.  We watched the Little Penguins come to shore and waddle up the beach to their burrows.  Yesterday we visited the Yarra Valey and the Dandenong Mountains where we saw cockatoos and lorikeets and walked  the Lyrebird trail in a temperate rainforest with tree ferns, a landscape right out of "Jurassic Park".  We saw kangaroos, wallabys, koalas and the Tasmanian devil at a rehabilitation facility as well.  Melbourne is a city of four million and has  a great deal of charm with some beautiful historic buildings and many modern ones.

"Wandering Through Wilderness" 11 x 23" watercolor painting submitted to the Wyoming Wilderness Association for their upcoming show to celebrate fifty years of wilderness.

"Stars in Stripes" have migrated to Saratoga!  Pleased to announce that I am now represented by Blackhawk Gallery in Saratoga.  We delivered paintings yesterday for the upcoming season.

"Across the Valley" 11 x 23" watercolor
My donation piece for Rocky Mountain National Park Artist in Residence program.  The reference photo was taken from Lumpy Ridge and overlooks the Estes Park valley with Long's Peak in the distance.  My project involved finding the places where the early landscape artists did their work.  Birger Sandzen did his painting "Long's Peak" from this location.

"Bear Lake" study from Rocky Mountain National Park where I spent two weeks this past summer as an Artist in Residence.  Honored to be one of the jurors of selection for this summer's Rocky Artists in Residence.  I enjoyed seeing all the wonderful artwork that was submitted.

This little 5x7 watercolor portrait of a giraffe was purchased at Artisans' Gallery here in Laramie by the owner of the Blackhawk Gallery in Saratoga.  I happened to be coming in for some framing and met the owner and managers, Patty, Gwen and Kim.  They invited us to lunch and invited me to show in the Blackhawk gallery in Saratoga! Thanks Patty! And thanks to Brenda also.