Plein Air II

Weber Lake
6” x 6”
Acrylic on Canvas

I met a painting buddy at a plein air event, and she took me out to this great spot just outside of Mancos, Colorado. We set up our gear to paint on property owned by friends of hers near Rimrock Outfitters. I felt lucky to have met someone who had permission to paint in such a gorgeous valley!

Behind us, the La Plata Mountains; to the north, the dramatic Rimrocks, and to the west, the serenity of Weber Lake. It was full-on fire season, with several blazes marking the sky with ribbons of red brown. But early that morning, the smoke was high and distant, giving us a reprieve from the dense smoke that had invaded the Four Corners for several days.

The lake was sapphire in the sun, rimmed with pines. As we happily painted, a string of riders rode west to explore the San Juan Mountains. We were still there when they later made their way back to the stable.

We both were determined to “loosen up” as we painted (a constant challenge for many artists). Our aim was to lay down the paint quickly and intuitively. The rimrock ridge caught my attention, so I started with that. Again, it turned out to be my warm-up painting. It’s still sitting in my studio, likely to be painted over with something new.

I then turned to the lake. By then, it was getting a bit toasty, the ice in my water bottle was long gone, leaving the contents bathwater warm. My painting partner was starting to get sunburned. I knew we wouldn’t be painting too much longer. It was just the motivation I needed to work quickly and loosely. Also, working on a very small canvas helped! This painting was about 90% finished when we both decided we’d had enough sun and heat for the day. I later added the finishing touches in my studio.