I always create a new painting for the Open Studios group show which is at the Boulder Library Canyon Gallery.  (the show runs from Sept 3 to Oct 11. and the tour is the 1st two weekends in Oct.)  The preview show is a great place to visit to see examples of each artist’s work. There are two notebooks available with bios and info on each artist.

The painting I’ve submitted is a new landscape titled Long’s Discovery.

When I paint a landscape I never use a typical plein aire or photographic approach.  This particular interpretation of Long’s Peak is designed to focus on the starkness of the peak contrasted with layers of discovery that might occur during the approach.

Long’s Discovery 37.5 X 23.5” acrylic on hardwood panel inc. self frame

I’ve finished several new paintings that will be displayed at my studio the first 2 weekends in October.

One new painting is of Monarch butterflies.  They are in the news now because of major problems with loss of habitat due mostly to herbicides that kill their host plant, the milkweed.  I titled the painting Monarch Miracle mainly because their amazing life cycle, which includes several generations sort of relaying them to their winter habitat in Mexico, seems totally miraculous to me.  I’m also hoping for a miracle that humans will do the right thing and be able to save them.

Monarch Miracle 13 X 15” acrylic on hardwood panel inc. self frame

I’m using my upcoming studio tour —less than 2 months away – as motivation to talk about my work and the tour.  I’m great at being motivated when I have a deadline!

My blogging handicap is that I’m a visual person, so getting my thoughts expressed in words is going to be interesting (at least to me).  I can’t count how many times I’ve rewritten my art statement over the last five years—always trying to improve on clarifying and communicating my ideas.

When I open my studio and have curious people (many of them artists themselves) come in and ask questions, I find it helps me to clarify my process by answering their questions.  So that’s my idea on a series of blogs:  answering questions from the curious.  Basically, what, why, and how.

I’m posting a few visuals of why visitors might be curious about my paintings:

I’ve recently applied and been accepted to Boulder’s Open Studios for 2015.  This will be my fifth year in joining this ” MUST DO” event that has become a Boulder Tradition over the past 20 years!

Opening my studio for two weekends every October has been a fun and interesting event for me.  It provides an incentive to get some new work done and the opportunity to reconnect with other artists as well as the patrons who come to see me and my work. I always do demonstrations and have activities for the kids who want to try their hand at stenciling and drawing while their parents look around.  I really enjoy answering questions and talking about my art with the curious visitors — many of them are artists themselves.

Opening my studio takes a lot of work and preparation but the rewards are many: setting and meeting goals, making connections, and, just as importantly, making sales!

I’ve finished some new paintings including a magpie that will be my visual on the Open Studios map.  It’s titled “Magpie’s Fine Balance” and I’ve inserted a cropped version of it at the top of this post.