Sundance Mountain 6 x 9" watercolor

I will be sharing my experience as artist in residence in Rocky Mountain National Park this summer with a PowerPoint program entitled “Rocky Mountain High” at the Laramie Art Guild meeting on Saturday, November 2^nd at 10 AM, Room 116, LCCC Albany County Campus in Laramie.  Early landscape artists exhibited work at the 1917 National Parks Conference in Washington, DC. With the 2015 centennial of Rocky upon us, I took look at some of these early painters and their work.  I found the locations of thirteen of the early artists’ landscapes in Rocky and documented these landscapes with photographs, watercolor studies, and GPS readings.

This watercolor painting of a "Mallard Drake"  will be shown at the Two-Shot Goose Hunt Art Show in Torrington mid-December. 

This portrait " Inupiaq Woman" was selected for second place in the Wyoming Watercolor Society show in Sheridan by juror John Salminen.

I have been working on a series of small watercolor studies of the thirteen landscapes that I located in Rocky Mountain National Park in July.  My studies are done from the locations where four early artists did their paintings in Rocky.  This one, entitled "Sundance Mountain"  is after Birger Sandzen's work entitled "Road in the Wilderness".  Of course I left out the road, but it is the same mountain.

Farewell to Rocky

This morning finds me at the end of my two week artist in residency in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Tomorrow my little friends who inhabit the wide open spaces near the William Allen White cabin will be entertaining another visitor. The golden mantle ground squirrel who sits on the pillar of the front porch each morning looks out over Moraine Park and appears to be greeting the new day.  The rufous hummingbird who perches on the dead branch along the path to the cabin enjoys nectar from the nearby Indian Paintbrush.  The Yellow-bellied Marmot will awaken someone else when he gnaws on the roof in the morning.  I will not soon forget this incredible experience where folks have been so kind to us and every day was filled with new discoveries of magical places.  In the words of John Muir, "Who can imagine beauty so fine in so savage a place, but gardens are blooming in all sorts of nooks and hollows."

Happy Trails

Tuesday we found three of the early artist's landscapes.  I sketched in a field of wildflowers in the tundra off of Trail Ridge Road for Birger Sandzen's "In the Mountains" and then we traveled to Lumpy Ridge where I sketched one of Sandzen's scenes on the Devil's Gulch Road.  Wednesday we had a great turnout for the children's programs at Hidden Valley.  The park photographer came and took photos of the children painting.  We went to Endovalley for a picnic lunch, and then back to Lumpy Ridge to sketch the other scene we found there on Tuesday.  Wednesday evening there were about thirty folks at my evening program at the Beaver Meadow's Visitor Center.  Son Shane and wife Abbie came from Northglenn, and painter friend Charlotte form Estes also came.
Thursday we took the morning to hike around Bear Lake, then to Alberta Falls, Nymph Lake and Dream Lake.  Today we hiked the Mills Creek Trail in search of Dean Babcock's painting "Across the Valley".  We found the landscape and I sketched it, then had a picnic lunch there.  Back to the Lumpy Ridge area where we visited the McGraw Ranch and hiked the Cow Creek trail.  Another full day with beautiful scenery,  and we almost had the trails to ourselves today.  It was very peaceful and relaxing, a perfect ending to a wonderful two weeks as Artist in Residence at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Trail Ridge and Lumpy Ridge

Drove the Fall River Road this morning, charming one way gravel road to the Alpine Visitor Center.  On the way back on Trail Ridge Road we discovered the location where Birger Sandzen painted "In the Mountains".  Pleasantly surprised to find this one, and enjoyed doing the painting in the midst of a wildflower garden in the alpine tundra.  Drove back to Endovalley for a pick nick lunch and thrn up the Devil's Gulch road where we found Sandzen's "Fall in the Mountains" and "Mountain Stream, Devil's Gulch".  The light was not good, but did a sketch of the latter, and will return tomorrow to do the former.  Have definitely exceeded expectations in every regard.  Made the circle thru Glen Haven and back to Estes and found bighorn sheep in the Big Thompson Canyon.  Serendipity!