Pursuing my passion

During my last trip to southern Colorado this fall I had the opportunity to go out painting by myself for the first time. It was a unique experience because unless I wanted to talk to myself there was no conversation. I found that this made it easier to "go into the zone" and absolutely loose all track of time. Even as the winds picked up and would have normally become an annoyance, I was able to block it out after I put rocks and my backpack on my easel to keep it from flipping. When I paint with other artists (which I love to do of course) and the conversation starts, I find it hard to stay in the right brain mode and keep it loose. I feel a distinct flip to my left brain and start painting too analytical when I'm talking. I'm in awe of painters that can talk and paint well at the same time - maybe that will come one day with more experience. I'm lucky that most of my artist friends feel the same way and prefer to visit and talk when we are through painting...always something to look forward to.

In this painting I decided to make most of the landscape shades of grey to feature the beautiful gold trees. I usually use a more muted palette which I think worked well with the glorious golds of the trees. I'll never forget earlier that week standing on a nearby hill after a hike to the top and looking down on this same valley full of gold and amber trees. Maybe it's best that I forgot to bring my camera on the hike because I'm sure it would not have captured the subtle nuances of the foliage that I remember in my mind.

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. I'm so thankful for my wonderful family, relatives and friends and the added blessing of getting to spend my days pursuing my passion for painting...what a gift!