Sunday, January 17, 2010

December in Colorado


More paintings of the prairie......

Sunset on the grasslands, near Greeley. Ink and watercolor.

Big sky at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, north of Denver. Ink and watercolor.

Sunset near Pawnee Buttes National Grassland. Ink and watercolor.

My husband Al and I went back to Colorado the week after Thanksgiving to try out the area's wintery weather to be sure this is where we want to retire. We got winter a-plenty, with snow and temperatures in the 'teens, but the landscape was so beautiful we just bundled up like the locals and headed outdoors.

While we were in the Fort Collins area, we visited the headquarters of Judson's Art Outfitters, the company that specializes in supplies for plein aire artists -- that is, artists who paint outdoors, from nature. We got to meet owner Carl Judson, who gave us a tour of the store and the workshop where he designs the Guerilla Painter artist boxes. Here's the cozy store, full of goodies for outdoor painters:


And here's one of Carl's ingenious boxes. This is a Guerilla Thumbox -- Mine! And all ready for action. This is what I use on the road, when I've got to paint something a little more involved than a sketch. Mine's set up for watercolor.


This was a fruitful trip. I'll have more paintings to show shortly. Stay tuned.