October 25, 2014

Discovering more Colorado Beauty

In early October an arty friend ,Jeanne, and I decided to try our luck at an Alla Prima event in Westcliffe. Neither one of us had been there before and it sounded like a cool event. We both knew of artists from the Denver area who had participated and we hoped were going to participate. A big plus was that Mark Daily was the judge, (he is a well respected artist from Denver).
We packed up our gear and headed out -http://www.sangresartguild.org/3rd-street-gallery/calls-to-artists/alla-prima-westcliffe-2014-prospectus/. Not knowing the wonderful beauty we were to encounter. What a treat!! Westcliffe is located between the Sangres de Cristos and the Wet Mountains. It is not on a well traveled highway but tucked away. So it has a simplicity and unspoiled beauty of a small town tucked in between 2 mountain ranges.
We took part in a 4 day event with 25 artists from across Colorado
and from nearby states as well (Kansas). What a find! Many artists had been participating year after year.
The town had an Arts Hullaballoo which included a parade on Saturday.
On Wednesday, our windy/rainy first day. We(Jeanne Echterenacht, Jennifer Riefenberg and myself)painted from inside the Third Street Gallery looking out. In the evening the event planners had us bowling and it was fun to meet up with the other artists who had been painting all over the valley before the bad weather started.


 Thursday we painted an old school house in the morning, which had been refurbished by the historical  society. An Amish carriage was pulled up outside by Stormy the stalwart and patient horse/model. We had sun  it was windy and beautiful.

 In the afternoon I got another painting done and just in time as that evening was the "Wet Wall event". So called because those who painted in oil had paintings which were still wet. We artists had  brought a supply of empty frames with us and framed up our art to be shown that night at the Brookside Gallery.
 My Painting _ "School's Out". A little blurry as I took a photo in the gallery.

Jeanne's http://jeanneechternachfineart.com/wonderful painting won first prize. I had the fun of having one of my paintings purchased. It will be going off to Texas eventually. There is more to come--!!

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