A comment with Photos!

Because this spot was so amazing, many cars stopped to photograph the scene. A few people came by to see me as well. Below are some photos taken of me and my painting by Robbie Scott along with her response to meeting me. Thank you, Robbie. Robbie is quicker than I am at pulling this off, but my paintings from this weekend will be up soon!
PS Seeing her photos of my painting on her camera made me realize I had to much of a curve on the mountain, so you will see I did correct that.

"What a double delight it was to come upon Victoria Ekelund, local Colorado artist, at the peek of color changes, in Berthoud Pass, on Saturday, Sept. 27th, 2008. It is one of our favorite annual day trips from Monument, CO. To see the magnificence of the leaves changing, feel the crisp fall air and drink in the splendor of God's creative handiwork, is something we had only read about in travel brochures. Now, since moving to Colorado four years ago, we make it a point to get out each fall, for the spectacle! This year, we came upon Victoria Ekelund, as she was putting the finishing touches on her painting. Her work reflects the vibrancy of colors that splash our senses and dance in our memories, long after the leaves have fallen for the season. Thank you Victoria, for capturing this amazing time of year!"

Blessings,
Robbie and Jim Scott
Monument, CO

Fall Color in Colorado

Friday found me back in Fraser painting with my friend, Marie. The color and light was simply breathtaking. I arrived around 9:30 a.m. and it was after 10 before I got everything set up and got started. My first painting was a struggle. I am not sure yet how I feel about it but my initial reaction was - just quit while your ahead and work on it later at home. So that is what I did. This painting is 11"x14". I have not touched it yet, and it is not looking quite as unfinished as I had thought. I will have to sit on this one.

I turned my easel around and painted the scene directly opposite the first. I tend to shy away from silouette but I did like the dark evergreens against all the aspens with the light shining across the willows. I did both of these paintings in four hours. I am not sure how long each took individually, but the second one just seemed to flow. If anyone has any suggestions for names of any of these paintings, please let me know. I am not creative in that arena. The Silouetted Sentinels is 10"x16" and will be up on my website this week (http://www.victoriaekelund.com/). I think it is a complete painting done alla prima.

We went back to Marie's home for lunch and a break. I had Fritz with me, who is my 5 year old schnoodle. He was antsy to get going, so I was going to head home from there. On my way back down the road, Marie was already set up for an afternoon painting, in the same location I had painted my earlier two, and it was just too tempting. I pulled over and we talked and decided to limit ourselves to an hour and fifteen minutes so that I could get going by 5:15 or so. I did this little 8x10. I think of the three, this is my least favorite, but my family disagrees. That is what is so wonderful about life. We all have our druthers. I do think I can make something better from this start. Stay tuned!

How to comment on a blog

I have had more than a few people write me via e-mail commenting on this blog. They all say they don't know how to publish a comment. It is a little intimidating the first time but it does get easier and even becomes fun! The way to publish a comment is to click on the little link that says "comment." This takes you to a page with a text box, and a list of comments already posted, if there are any. You type in the text box. You do not have to have a google account to post. You can be anonymous, or you can use existing accounts from a variety of IM accounts, etc. You must do the word verification text box or it will not go forward. You can preview your comment before posting. It is as easy as that.

The other comment I have had made is not feeling qualified to critique or judge art. I don't expect everyone to be comfortable with this, but if you have a reaction to a piece of art, say so. Art is very relative to the viewer. It will not appeal to all people. But something may jump out at you after you have passed over many. Posting photos of my plein aire work helps me to see what needs to be done, which is why I comment on it. A photo shows things that I do not see because I am too close to it. A photo strips that emotional tie away. Some need touching up, some don't. Some need a major overhaul!

It should be easy to comment on the before and after. Either you like one better than the other or you don't. I have been reworking quite a few old paintings so there will continue to be more of these posts.

Fraser, Colorado

The last time I was in Fraser I not only painted the scene already posted of the ranch that I call Fraser Valley (same view, different years) but I also painted the Byers Ranch outbuilding above. This one has a different feel to it even though they were painted the same day. Byers Ranch was painted in the morning. I hadn't realized this before but I have committed a big no-no here. The painting is cut right in half. If I recall correctly, I was using the brush and willows with the evergreen trees to lead the eye up to the outbuilding with that great purple color of the bank of dirt behind it. I do believe that the dark blue of the evergreens above the dirt bank saves it from feeling cut in half. I was taken by the textures and the colors of the scene. I am going to Fraser tomorrow to paint, not sure where just yet. I am hoping some fall colors will be out.

Before and After II

I have been playing around with old paintings because I figure there isn't anything I can do to ruin them, so I should just have some fun. Here is a before (below) and after (above) of a painting I did in 2005, when I was in Connecticut. I was so happy with this painting at the time. There are some aspects of the original that I do still like better now that I see them together. I lost some of the expressive quality of the water channels coming at the viewer and the feeling of light. That is the beauty of oil paints and photography. I can use the photo of the original to go back in and try to bring some of that back.

Portrait of my daughter

I have been threatening to paint my daughter for the past few years and she enjoys "calling" me on it. So a month or so ago, I finally got down to it. She is a good model and is very patient with me. It is not like I have never done a painting of her, but previously they have all been from photographs and have been from her childhood. One of them did win a "best of show" so I will post it below. I called it "Isn't it Past your Bedtime?" She also modeled for me for the Denver plein aire event, but I did not manage to finish that painting yet.

Before and After I

this is a scene I really thought had potential when I first saw it two years ago. It is on Hwy 40 behind the Cozens Ranch and Stage Stop outside of Winterpark, CO. The painting I did on site was a disaster. The painting I did using the study and the photo was also not so good. Yet I still thought it had potential. So I decided to paint over the original painting to see if I could salvage it. I still contend it there is potential, and that the painting is now much improved, but it still is not where I wanted it to be. I just may have to try it again Plein Aire.