I’ve been a little slow in the blog posts of late.  As some of you know recently a gas-line explosion took out half-a-block of downtown Bozeman.  Montana Trails Gallery was decimated.  I lost roughly 30 paintings.  Worse, Tara Bowman, the gallery director was killed in the explosion. It’s been hard to know how to put this into words, so I’ve left the blog alone for a bit.  At some point in the near future I will write about this terrible event, but for the moment I want to look ahead and share some new work. As we enjoy the first breath of spring here in Montana,  I thought it appropriate to post a handful of winter plein air paintings.  I hope these pieces bring a little joy and peace, or at least a little enjoyment.  Click on any of the thumbnails to see the enlargements.  And yes, they are all for sale!

Yes, I used the words extreme and dude, two words that should not enter the lexicon of a serious artist, but stick with me here.  I just spent a day painting in Yellowstone National Park, not really an extreme activity, but check out the rig we took into Indian Creek to our painting location:

Yes, this is a snowcoach, the vehicle of choice for the discerning winter traveler.  On the right is George Bumann, my painting accomplice on this trip.  On the left is our driver, who is nuts.  I mean that as a compliment: she’s great company,  and a fine driver, but deep down she is wondering if she can get this machine airborne.  I can see that in her smile.

George and I were the only passengers to head up to Indian Creek on this very windy day.  To have a corner of Yellowstone to yourself for a day is a rare and wonderful thing.  Here’s George setting up to paint:

He’s still happy because though it’s windy the blizzard has not yet hit.

At lunch we skied back to the warming hut.  It started to snow, but I was determined to get another study in before the snow coach returned.  This is where the “extreme plein air” comes into it.  In order to paint, I had to quickly premix colors before the snow covered them.  After a little while there was too much snow mixed into the paint, so it separated and wouldn’t stick to the brush.  I had to work turpentine into the mixes to melt the ice and get down to the paint.  Sick and wrong!  But it was so beautiful!!!  There is nothing so inspiring as the landscape dissolved into muted greys by snow.  I’d be jumping for joy if my pack boots weren’t so heavy. 

George retreated to the warming hut and painted while looking out the window, but I promised not to tell, (it doesn’t reflect well on his tough-man-raised-by-wolves image,) so I’m trusting you to keep quiet.  By the end I had trouble even seeing the painting because the snow was accumulating on the canvas.  But I’m convinced that this is the best painting I’ve ever done…in a blizzard.  Stay tuned for the studio piece!  Oh, and our fearless Snowcoach driver did return right on schedule, saving us the ignominy of burning the furniture to stay warm before resorting to cannibalism to stay alive.  Did I mention that I have the best job in the world!!?

Here they are, the paintings that I did while in Arizona.  Ah, to bask in warm sunshine!  We’ve had a week of sub-zero weather since returning home, making the temperature spread between Arizona and Montana nearly 100 degrees!!!  For those of you living in Cold Climates, I hope these studies warm you a bit.  Also, I must thank David Q., who saw the remarkable evening glow on the Catalina Mountains and had the inspiration to send me down to Arizona to try to paint it!  What a remarkable experience it was.

I’ve posted thumbnails.  Just click on any of the images to see the enlargements.  You’ll notice that I’ve inserted a few charcoal drawings.  These are preparatory drawings for studio paintings.  This allows me to work out changes and refine my ideas.  So what you have here is a preview of coming paintings!If any of you are so inspired, I’d appreciate your feedback on the new work.