Daniel Augenstein Arts

Oil - 36 × 24 inches - $5800

Oil - 9 × 12 inches - SOLD

Oil - 9 × 12 inches - $500

Oil - 24 × 30 inches - $4800

Oil - 20 × 16 inches - $2800

Oil - 9 × 12 inches - $500

Gouache - 6.5 × 6.5 inches - SOLD

Oil - 36 x 12 inches - $1700

Oil - 20 x 16 - SOLD

Oil - 20 x 16 inches - $1300

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - $2800

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - $650

This plein air piece was begun on site and finished in the RV park.

Watercolor - 10 x 14 inches - $625

This work was painted from my photo taken at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico.

Oil - 48 x 32 inches - $4200

Watercolor - 10 x 14 inches - $625

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - $2000

Oil on acrylic - 16 x 20 inches - $1500

Oil on acrylic - 16 x 20 inches - $1500

Oil - 16 x 20 Inches - $2000

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - $1100

Watercolor - 12 x 16 inches - $825

Watercolor - 8 x 12 inches - $380

Oil on Acrylic Mixed Media - 18 x 24 inches - $1500

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

This building was in Red Feather Village in northern Colorado. The work was painted from my photogragh as a studio piece.

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Plein-air Oil - 10 x 16 inches - SOLD

Acrylic - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Oil on Arches - 9 x 12 inches - SOLD

Oil on Arches - 9 x 12 inches - SOLD

Mixed Media on 300 Pound Watercolor Paper -22 x 30 inches

$1750

Oil - 30 x 42 inches - $2650

The intent of this work is to play with rhythmic intervals of the cliff faces and scalloped edges of the dry creek bed.  To add to this, I attempted to simplify the pinon and sage slopes covering the valley to add a type of "staccato" background to the "music" of the image.

This work is a study in "rhythm" for the "Principled" art show in Dcemeber 2017. 

Watercolor - 8 x 10 inches - $330

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - $1000

Acrylic - 16 x 20 inches - $1500

Oil - 20 x 26 inches - SOLD

Acrylic - 16 x 16 inches - SOLD

Acrylic - 16 x 16 inches - SOLD

Acrylic - 11 x 14 inches - $650

Painted with permission from a BW photo taken by Paul Silberman in 1967.

Oil - 12 x 24 inches - SOLD

Oil - 16 x 20

This piece is a final studio painting of the Anna Ruby Falls near Helen, Georgia. The following two watercolors are studies in preparation for this painting.

Watercolor - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Watercolor - 12 x 16 inches - SOLD

OIl on Acrylic Underpainting - 18 x 24 Inches - SOLD

Watercolor - 7.5 x 11.5 inches - SOLD

Watercolor - SOLD

OIl - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Oil - 16 x 20 Inches - SOLD

Watercolor and Ink - 7 x 10 inches - SOLD

Watercolor and Ink - 7 x 10 inches - SOLD

Watercolor and Ink - 7 x 10 inches

Oil on Canvas - 12 x 24 inches - SOLD

Pastel - 18 x 24 inches -SOLD

Pastel - 18 x 24 inches - SOLD

Oil on Canvas - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Oil - 12 x 24 inches - SOLD

This "plein air" piece was created on a crisp early fall morning just south of Breckenridge, Colorado.  It was started by using a subtraction process of removing the lighter value areas from the wet underpainting with a cloth.

Oil on Copper - 12 x 16 inches - SOLD 

The inspiration for this piece was a black and white photograph taken by Paul Silberman in Paris in 1964.  Paul was excited to see what an artist might do with his image and gave me permission to modify the structure as needed.  This piece is a study in "variety and unity" for the "Principled" art show opening in December 2017.

Oil on Acrylic/Mixed Media - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Contact Columbine Gallery to purchase this piece.

Oil on Acrylic - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

This work is inspired from photographs I took from a single engine plane as we approached Mt. Denali in Alaska.  It is a study in "contrast" for the "Principled" art show in December 2017.

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

Sprague Lake sits in the Rocky Mountain National Park just underneath the Continental Divide.  

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Oil on Acrylic - 18 x 24 inches - SOLD

This image was painted from a photo that I took while snowshoeing in the Hidden Valley area of Rocky Mountain National Park outside of Estes Park, Colorado.  

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

This piece was painted at the Chapunga Park, Loveland, Colorado during the 2017 Governor's Art Show Plein Air Fest and auctioned as part of the Loveland Rotary clubs' fundraiser.

In October 2021, our Ford Transit art van was finished. The van will allow us to travel the continent and create paintings on location. The term “plein-air” is used when an artist sets up their easel outside and paints what they see before them.

Some of the work on this page are pieces painted plein-air or sitting in the van while it rains or snows outside!

Oil - 8 × 10 inches - $330

Oil - plein air - 16×20 inches - $2600

Oil - plein air - 8 × 10 inches - $330

Oil - plein air - 8 × 10 inches - $330

Gouache -plein air - 8.5 × 11.5 inches - $350

Oil - Plein air - 12 × 16 inches - $1000

Oil - plein air - 11 × 14 inches - $650

Oil - plein air - 9 × 12 inches - $500

Watercolor - plein air - 8 × 10 inches - $800

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - $650

This piece was painted in our “clamshell” at the campsite during an afternoon rain at Carter Lake is located southwest of Loveland, Colorado.

Oil - 20 x 16 inches - Inquire about the price

This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.

Oil - 14 x 11 inches -$650

This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.

Oil - 10 x 8 inches - $330

This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.

Oil - 10 x 8 inches - $330

This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.

Oil - 14 x 11 inches - SOLD

This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.

Oil - 20 x 16 inches - $1000

The morning started out gray and rainy! I began this work sitting in the front seat of the camper van. (This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.)

Oil - Plein air - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

The stillness of the water allowed me to see the rocks below the surface. Belair Lake is near Red Feather Lakes in northern Colorado.

Plein air oil - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

This plein air piece was painted in the summer of 2023 near Pilar, New Mexico. It was accepted to be shown in the PAAC’s 2023 National Exhibition at the Blumenschein Museum in Taos, New Mexico!

Oil - 20 x 16 inches - SOLD

This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.

Oil - plein air - 11 x 14 inches - $1000

This piece was painted plein air at Lake Dowdy near the Red Feather Lakes in northern Colorado.

Oil - 20 x 16 inches - SOLD

This piece was painted “en plein-air” at the 2023 Monuments and Canyons Plein Air Event near Grand Junction, Colorado in the first week of October 2023.

Plein-air oil - 9 x 12 inches - $500

Oil - 8 x 10 inches on cradled panel - $330

Painted in the front seat of the van from a photo I had taken at Eagle Falls above Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe.

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - $1000

Plein-air Oil - 12 x 16 inches - $1000

Oil - 12 x 16 - $1000

Plein-air oil - 8 x 10 inches - Inquire about the price

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - plein air - SOLD

Oil - 8 x 10 inches on Belgian linen - SOLD

This view is looking west near Josie Morris’ homestead in Dinosaur National Monument on the Utah side of the park. This was painted in campsite.

Oil - Painted plein-air on 8 x 10 cradled panel - SOLD

This was an amazingly beautiful canyon just outside of Spring Creek, Nevada in the Ruby Mountains.

Oil - 11 x 14 inch - SOLD

This was painted in the van from my photo of the creek that runs under Frank Lloyd Wright’s home “Falling Water” in south-western Pennsylvania.

Oil - Painted plein-air - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Carter Lake is located southwest of Loveland, Colorado.

This started as a watercolor pencil sketch at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico. The work was finished in the “Hulk” (our camper van) at the RV park.

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Painted in the front seat of the van from my photo of the Lincoln sculpture at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Oil - 8 x 10 inches painted plein-air - $330

Dockery Lake sits in the north-west corner of Georgia. This area is right at the southern end of the Appalachian Trail.

Oil - 8 x 10 inches on Belgian Linen - Painted plein-air

The Delmonaco Winery in Tennessee participates in “Harvest Hosts” which allows campers to “boondock” on their property. Their wine is amazing!

This was done plein air at the Greeley Stampede at Island Grove Park in Greeley, Colorado. The piece will be silent auctioned off as a fund raiser. The auction is being held at the Event Center and will close at 5:00pm on July 4, 2023.

Mixed Media - 8 x 10 inches

Oil - 10 x 16 inches on canvas - painted plein-air - SOLD

This beautiful spot is just west of Loveland, Colorado on the Big Thompson River.

Oil painted plein air - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

Oil painted plein air - 8 x 10 inches

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - plein air - SOLD

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - plein air - SOLD

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Oil - Painted plein-air on 11 x 14 inch canvas - SOLD

This work seemed to head back to some abstracted work I did a few years ago.

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

This was done plein air at the Greeley Stampede at Island Grove Park in Greeley, Colorado. The piece will be silent auctioned off as a fund raiser. The auction is being held at the Event Center and will close at 5:00pm on July 4, 2023.

Oil - 8x10 inches - Started plein air but finished in the van! - SOLD

Oil - 8 x 10 inches - SOLD

Watercolor Pencil - 8 x 10 inches - Drawn on site - $100

Watercolor Pencil - 8 x 10 inches - Drawn on site - $100

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - plein air - $1000

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - plein air - SOLD

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - plein air - SOLD

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - plein air - SOLD

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - $2800

Oil on Belgian Linen - 16 x 20 inches - $1500

Oil on Belgian Linen - 16 x 20 Inches - $1500

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - $1000

Oil on Belgian Linen - 16 x 20 inches - Inquire for price

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - SOLD

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

Watercolor

Oil - 20 x 24 inches - SOLD

Mixed Media

Watercolor - Available

Oil - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

This plein air work was done above a Colorado canyon just west of the Colorado National Monument.

Watercolor

Oil on Acrylic - 16 x 20 Inches - SOLD

Oil - 11 x 14 inches

Framed Oil Painting - 18 x 14 inches - SOLD

This painting attempts to catch the light drifting across the hillside on a mountain above Helena, Montana.  Notice that the painting moves out onto the frame and breaks the border between the image and the viewer.

Framed watercolor - 7 x 10 inches - SOLD

Oil - 24 x 36 inches - SOLD

This early morning scene is in Keystone, Colorado outside of the resorts convention center.  The shadows from the trees created this beautiful lace pattern as they fell across a field of lupine.  A few Indian Paintbrush add accent with their intense red-orange flowers.

Framed pastel - 18 x 24 inches - SOLD

Framed pastel - 11 x 18 - SOLD

Nebraska Farmland is a pastel piece that results from photos taken by Augenstein on his many trips across Nebraska to visit his father's family in eastern Nebraska.  The geometric shapes of farm buildings and bins are a wonderful contrast to the organic shapes of the fields and trees.

Framed oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - 18 x 24 inches - SOLD

Gallery wrap oil on acrylic - 24 x 36 - SOLD

This painting of the iconic buttes on the eastern plains of Colorado was painted with an "altered palette" as an experiment in color for the larger altered palette painting, "Altered Lilies," for the 2016 Elemental Art Show.  

Framed oil - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - 18 x 24 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Framed pastel - 11 x 15 inches -  SOLD

SOLD

Amish Farm is a pastel piece completed from a photo taken by Beth Brown with her permission.  The work is currently in the Justin and Aubrey Augenstein collection in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Framed oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - 12 x 16 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Framed oil - SOLD

SOLD 

Watercolor - 12 x 16 inches

SOLD

Framed watercolor media.  

SOLD

Framed oil and acrylic - 8 x 10

SOLD

Gallery wrap oil painting - 24 x 36 inches

SOLD

Watercolor - 8 x 14 inches

SOLD

Framed oil - 18 x 24 inches

SOLD

Framed oil - 18 x 24 inches

SOLD

Framed oil - 24 x 36 inches

$350 - Watercolor study from photo reference with permission from posespace.com.

Ink - 5 x 11 inches - $800

Day 23 of Inktober 2019

Bill commissioned this drawing of his late wife, Glenda, to celebrate their anniversary date.

Framed acrylic painting - 16 x 20 inches - $750

Framed watercolor pencil - 10 x 14 inches - $185

Framed oil - 12 x 16 inches - $400

Micron and Arteza Pen drawing

Self-portrait in ink on medium value paper for “Sketchaday” prompt “shout.”

Graphite and pastel

Graphite and White pastel - 12 x 16 - SOLD

Ink - 9 x 12 inches

Day 7 of Inktober 2019 - SOLD

SOLD

Graphite and pastel

SOLD

Graphite and pastel

Graphite - 11 x 14 - SOLD

Framed mixed media - 8.5 x 11.5 - $125

SOLD

Framed watercolor pencil

Watercolor pencil on Bristol paper - SOLD

Oil - 16x20 inches - $750

Watercolor - 2020 - $350

This is a study of a Pose-Space model, John, posed as “The David.”

Watercolor Pencil - 2019 - Available

Harold Waiting - oil (12x16)

Watercolor pencil - 11x14 inches - Available

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - Available

Bryon in the Cool of the Day is intended to represent a young man coming to an awareness of the answers to inner questions that come in the morning.  Morning is the time of day when the promise of potential gifts and choices are alive.

Oil - 16x20 inches

In Quiet - oil (12x16) was selected to be hung in the 2012 Au Naturel Show at Clatsop Community College in Oregon.  

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - Available

Pen and Ink - 8 x 10 inches

Day 29 of Inktober 2019

SOLD

Watercolor pencil on mi-teintes paper - April 2020 - SOLD

Ballpoint pen - 6 x 6 inches - NFS

Ballpoint Pen - 6 x 6 inches - NFS

Ballpoint Pen - 6 x 6 inches - NFS

Mixed media piece with Derwent watercolor pencils - Available

Watercolor and Ink - SOLD

This pastel and graphite portrait study of Chris is on "mi-tientes" paper.  My intent was to experiment with extreme position of the model within the composition. 

Watercolor pencil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Marlin May is a actor, author, and voice actor in Colorado.  When he is not performing or riding his motorcycle, he might be found modeling for photography and drawing sessions for art organizations and colleges.

$500 - This 18x24 oil painting attempts to catch the animosity between Sarai and Hagar of the Old Testament story of Abraham's wives.  

Oil on canvas - 16 x 20 inches - $500

Prismacolor pencil - 7 x 10 inches

Oil on canvas - 9 x 12

This 16x20 oil study of Tara was completed in one sitting during a figure drawing class.

This mixed media piece of Susan is 18x24 inches.

This quick pastel and graphite sketch focuses on the strong light falling across the model's back.

Prismacolor pencil - 9 x 12 inches

Framed oil painting - 20 x 24 inches - $1500

This painting was one of the four that I exhibited at the 2015 Governor's Art Show in Loveland, Colorado.  The cactus scene was inspired by a large cluster of prickly pear cactus in Old Town Albuquerque.

Framed pastel - 12 x 23 inches - SOLD

Gallery wrap - acrylic and mixed media -24 x 36 inches - SOLD

SOLD

Watercolor

Oil - 8 x 10 inches

This painting of quince was created for the Madison and Main Gallery's 2016 "Garden Show."  Each gallery artist was assigned a different letter of the alphabet to produce a piece of work around.  This allowed the visitors to stroll the gallery while doing a letter search.  The letter I drew was "Q."

Framed oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

SOLD

Framed oil - 18 x 24 inches

Pastel - 16 x 20 inches - Not For Sale

This pastel is of our special pet, Lazarus, who died in September of 2016.  

SOLD

Framed watercolor - 8 x 10 inches

Oil - 18 x 24 - SOLD

Pastel - 20 x 24 inches - SOLD

Pastel - 20 x 24 inches - SOLD

Pastel - 20 x 24 inches - SOLD

Oil - SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

Framed graphite drawing

SOLD

Oil - 24 x 36 inches

SOLD

SOLD

Oil - 24 x 36 inches

Oil - 12 x 16 inches - SOLD

This window of flowers was inspired by a photo that our good friends, Pam and Craig Hansen, took while on vacation in Mexico.

I was struck by the near formal balance and strong lighting.  Where the photo had poinsettias at the end of their season, I painted them in full bloom.

SOLD

Framed watercolor

2020 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 32 x 48 inches - $4200

2020 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 32 x 48 inches - SOLD

2020 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

2020 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 18 x 24 inches - SOLD

2017 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 30 x 39 inches - SOLD

This oil is intended to illustrate the amazing quality in reflections where objects above the water sometimes don't appear in the reflection such as the cliff on the left side.  In the same way, objects appear in the reflection that don't show in the image such as the evergreen trees.

This work appeared in the April 2017 edition of the Southwest Art Magazine in the article featuring this 25th Annual Governor's Art Show.  http://www.southwestart.com/events/governors-show-apr2017

2017 Governor’s Art Show

Oil sketch on paper - 11 x 19 inches - SOLD

This oil sketch is done after the manner of Castiglione's studies for his prints.  It is inspired by Deborah Butterfield's use of negative and positive space in her amazing bronze-cast sculptures of horses.

The painting was first shown in Elemental Show that hung in the Union Colony Civic Center in January of 2016 and again in the Parker Arts Center (PACE) in Parker, Colorado.

2017 Governor’s Art Show

Oil, willow branches, gold leaf - 38 x 42 inches - SOLD

This painting is an effort to utilize the lines from actual willow branches to direct the viewer's eye through the center of the painting and back out.  

These willows were painted from an image I photographed in Montana just outside of Helena.

The work was previously hung in the Elemental Show that hung in the Union Colony Civic Center in January of 2016 and in the Parker Art Center in Parker, Colorado in January of 2017.

2018 Governor’s Art Show

Oil on Canvas - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

2018 Governor’s Art Show

Oil on Canvas - 48x32 - SOLD

2018 Governor’s Art Show

Oil on Copper - 30x60 inches - SOLD

2018 Governor’s Art Show

Oil on Canvas - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

2015 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 20 x 24 inches - $1500

2015 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 24 x 36 inches - SOLD

2015 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 32 x 68 inches - SOLD

The Lace Purchase - Burano  is completed from a photograph I took on the island of Burano in the Venetian lagoon.  The island is not as famous as Venice or Murano, known for its glass blowing, but instead it is the island where amazing pieces of lace are made by the villagers.  On the first visit that my wife and I made to Burano, we still found elderly women sitting in their front doors with their backs to the walkway working on their lace works.  My intent here was to focus on the early morning calm of this colorful, quaint village and yet highlight their local artwork.

2015 Governor’s Art Show

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Things Fall Apart - Archie Bray Brick Factory is a painting of the Archie Bray Brick Factory ruins in Helena, Montana.  The bricks made by this factory are common to most of the old landmarks in this state capitol.  Yet the factory itself sits in ruin.  The factory with fallen smoke stacks and kilns sit on the grounds that now are home to a spectacular institution for ceramic arts!  Each year the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts awards fellowships to ceramic artists and the studios and galleries are open for visitors year round.  

My intent for this piece was to study the shapes and repetition of form found in the shadows and light of this building in the morning.

2017 Governor’s Art Show

Oil on acrylic - 12 x 16 inches - SOLD

This small painting was inspired by the pedicab drivers in downtown Denver who, regardless of the weather, pedal passengers to and from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.  This particular evening, it had just rained and this man was taking his clients to their next destination.

OIl - 30 x 40 inches - SOLD

This work was painted from my reference photos taken near Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse in Maine. I was inspired by the calm of the pool above the turbulent surf below. It seems a metaphor for my life that at times when events are raging, I can still find spiritual peace inside if I look for it.

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

Painted from my reference photo of the White River near Rangely, Colorado in the late fall afternoon sunlight. The northwestern portion of Colorado is filled with beautiful landscapes needing to be painted!

Oil - 24 x 30 inches - $2200

This is the second version of these rocks on the Maine coast between the Seawall Campground and the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. I experimented with my application of the oil paint. I even used a sponge for some of the rock textures!

Oil - 16 x 20 inches - SOLD

This painting is the second piece from this Rangely and northwest Colorado trip. Returning home, driving just south of Dinosaur National Park, we saw these amazing bluffs in the morning light. I was inspired by the shadows curving through the highlighted foreground.

8 x10 inch oil painted en-plein-air in the Lamoille Canyon in Nevada. This piece will be sold in a Silent Auction at the show’s opening gala on May 5, 2023 to raise money for the sponsoring Rotary Clubs’ benefits.

Oil - 36 x 36 inches - $2550

Mixed media - SOLD

Mixed media - SOLD

Oil - SOLD

Oil - SOLD

Oil - SOLD

Oil - SOLD

Watercolor - SOLD

Drawn with permission from a photograph taken by Chef Michael Hawkins.

Thanks to Marcus Becker and Caleb Olson who modelled for this image! They are both amazing graphic artists and models!

Ink on Arches - 5.5 x 8 inches

Ballpoint pen - 3 x 3 inches

Ink on Bristol - 4 x 7 inches

Ink - 5.5 x 7.5 inches

Mixed Inks - 5.5 x 6.5 Inches

Mixed Inks - 6.5 x 6 inches

Ink - 4 x 6 inches

Ink - 5 x 7 inches

Mixed Ink - 5 x 6.5 inches

Mixed Ink

Mixed Inks

Mixed Inks

Mixed Ink - 4 x 6 inches

Mixed Inks - 5 x 5 inches

Ink - 5.5 x 5.5 inches

Ink - 5.5 x 5.5 inches

Ink - 5.5 x 5.5 inches

Ink - 5.5 x 5.5 inches

Mixed Ink - 6 x 6 inches

Ink - 5.5 x 5.5 inches

Mixed Inks - 5 x 6 inches

Mixed Inks - 4 x 6 inches

Mixed Inks - 5.5 x 5.5 inches

Mixed Inks - 5 x 6 inches

Mixed Ink - 6 x 6 inches

Mixed Inks - 4.5 x 4.5 inches

Mixed Ink - 6 x 6 inches

Mixed Inks - 6 x 6 inches

Mixed Inks - 5 x 7 inches

Mixed Inks - 11 x 11 inches

Mixed Inks - 9 x 9 inches

This is the final day of Inktober 2018. During the process, I learned a lot about using inks. I discovered how important the preliminary drawing is since correcting misplaced ink lines is difficult if not impossible.

SOLD

My inspiration for this piece came from Joseph Albers, Interaction of Color, and David Hornung, who utilized Alber’s theories in his textbook, Color – A workshop for artists and designers.  Albers  and Hornung taught their students many ways to work with colors in their paintings. One of the techniques to unify colors was called an altered palette.  An altered palette is where every color used in the painting has one consistent additive color.  In my case, I added alizarin crimson to the colors in the piece. The waterlilies are from a photo I took in Atlanta’s Botanical Gardens but the image has also been altered to allow a color wheel to circle through the lower left quadrant of the work. There are also attempts to move the viewer’s eye up from the color wheel to the upper right through monochromatic green lily pads.

Towards the end of the painting cycle, I returned to finish the final details of the work and actually painted one small section of detail forgetting my own concept of the admixture. Can you find the place where the color has no alizarin added to it? (It is the upper portion of the stem of the standing waterlily flower.)

SOLD - PRIVATE COLLECTION

This piece attempts to break down the facets of the Diamond of Longs Peak's east face as it towers over Chasm Lake. The solitary cairn on the shore of the lake becomes the focal point only after the sheer color of the cliff face at sunrise has been felt. The mountain itself is the great cairn of the divine creator and the smaller cairn is but a recreational effort of someone who celebrated their conquest of their climb. Likewise this painting was well in progress before I realized that the real cairns are the scenes like the mountain itself and my efforts were fairly inconsequential and even recreational when measured against these greater works.

The shapes of the cliff face were simplified, cut out of canvas, attached to the stretched canvas, and painted with a dark blue-violet acrylic underpainting to accentuate the shapes wherever the edges were visible. This attempt to create an actual physical form that moved forward away from the background was heightened in some cases by using up to four layers of canvas.

Arthur Wesley Dow’s book, Composition - Understanding Line, Notan and Color, provided some information that helped me assert compositional lines along the edges of the attached shapes that utilized his concepts of opposition and transition. 

SOLD

Three events came together in “Space” to create this piece! 

Creating a piece of art for the element of “Space” was difficult for me.  I had many ideas some sculptural, one with hanging cylinders that could be built together in a 3-D space, a series of overlapping hanging sheets of clear Plexiglas with an image painted on each that changed as the viewer moved in front of it.  All of these were intriguing but as the deadline loomed to finish the work for the show, I was stuck with a work that had no good idea!

The day that my wife and I hiked to the overlook for the fall photo for the “Time” piece (see the documentation for these paintings), we came to a switchback that turned where a gigantic trunk of a tree had been felled resting at the foot of a healthy pine.  The dark negative spaces between the partial branches of the fallen tree against the light negative spaces of the standing tree silhouetted against the sky were so dramatic that I took a few reference photos for later use.  Additionally, the light valued shape of the fallen trunk created a negative space itself that moved the eye directly to the dark tree behind. 

The second event was the following weekend when we visited the Denver Art Museum’s exhibit, Castiglione, The Hidden Genius.   Giovanni Castiglione, the Italian Baroque printmaker and painter in the 1600’s, made a tremendously large body of “oil sketches” (a technique of painting thinned-down brown oil paint on paper) as studies for his paintings and prints.  The works were subtle and soft in some areas and energetic and strong in other areas.  I was amazed!

That same day in the afternoon, we visited the Denver Botanic Gardens where Deborah Butterfield was exhibiting a solo show of her bronze horses.  In the video narrative that accompanied her show she spoke of the importance and power of negative spaces in her bronze sculptures of horses created from the casting of actual branches and logs.  It was at this moment that the “bells sounded!”

Here I have attempted to utilize the negative spaces (Butterfield) to create a dramatic effect both with the dark and light values but also with the directional power of the shapes.  The technique is an oil sketch (Castiglione) with the subject matter from the hike necessary to complete the “Time” paintings!

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The hike up to Arthur’s Rock in the Lory State Park near Fort Collins, Colorado passes by a granite outcropping that overlooks Horsetooth Reservoir and the plains south of the city.  These canvases capture the four seasons of the year at four different times of day.  To compound the element of time in this work, each canvas was completed within a limited amount of time.  Artists work within the constraint of deadlines all the time.  The deadlines here were 30, 60, 120, and 240 minutes!  A simple pencil line drawing of the skeleton of the overlook (horizon line, reservoir, ridge, boulders, and trees) was replicated with tracing paper to assure that each canvas was accurate to this structure.  This five minute sketch was not counted!

I found that I worked from sky, to distant horizon and land shapes, forward to the reservoir, and finally to the foreground with the boulders and plants.  This is not my usual process for painting landscapes.  It did allow me to convey large concepts of weather, time, and moisture conditions though I felt hampered by the lack of time available to finish the foreground in the first two works.  The tree with the curved fork trunk on the right behind the cluster of rocks was a major registration point of the four works and I felt I needed to secure it both geographically on the canvas but also visually with some clarity of brush strokes.  It is not the focal point of the works but served as an anchor.   I am hoping that the sunlight (or lack of sun in the winter) hitting the scene from various locations in the sky works as a dramatic conveyor of this tale about time.

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The reflections in the pond behind the Columbine Gallery in Loveland, Colorado is the inspiration for this dripped, splattered, and brushed work.  The underpainting is created by oil paints that were thinned down to a wash with “turpenoid” and forced to flow away from the horizon line up, down, and sideways!  The basic shapes of the trees were thinned paint dropped and poured from a jar while I stood on a step ladder!  The silhouette of the branches in the foreground were splattered from a paint laden brush.  I couldn’t technically move away from using the brush entirely!  I went back in to force small details of leaves and reflections when my lack of being able to control gravity left me without clear focal points and interesting detail.

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The Canadian artists known as the “Group of Seven” were the inspiration for this piece.  The group was known for its Canadian imagery celebrating the vastness and variety of this northern country.  Many of the paintings done by this group are done with thick impasto applications of oil rich in textures and color relationships.  J.E.H. MacDonald (b.1873-d.1932) created a large body of work using contrasting colors as underpaintings for his landscapes.  In my work, a small yard on the north side of the Nelson farm house near Eaton, Colorado was the subject.  The process began near-complementary undercoats of red, orange, and blue-violet for the farm house, the small pond, and the lawn and vegetation.  My intent was to accentuate the thick application of paint by contrasting it with opposite colors.    My hope is that the underpainting creates visual vibrations enriching the textural quality of the work.  

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This piece focuses on the quality that line creates in a work of art.  The willows as painted become the willows in actuality and then are transformed as they transfer through the wood border (another thick line in a rectangular form) into golden branches.  This transformation is intended to be a dialogue with the viewer about what the artist sees (the physical), what the artist makes (the painting), and a symbol of the spiritual essence of LIFE (the gold leaf covered branches). 

OIl on Acrylic - 16x20

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This image of tall Alaskan peaks results from an aerial photo that I took during a bush plane flight up to Mt. Denali on my wife and my 40th Anniversary Alaska trip.

The work in this piece results from a study in value inspired from Juliette Aristedes’ book, Lessons in Classical Painting. In this process, the values of the painting are separated in four value steps: darkest, middle grey, light grey, and lightest.  Each layer is blocked in unreservedly with courage starting with the darkest. The commitment to the dark values allows the other layers to create a great contrast.

Additionally, contrast plays out in the cool colors of the shadows against the warm white of the sunlight on the snow fields and the angular nature of the peaks against the incoming afternoon storm. 
Coincidentally, the storm approaching in this image is the rain storm that poured for hours in the painting I did for “emphasis.”

Oil on Copper – 12 x 16 inches

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The inspiration for this piece was a black and white photograph taken by Paul Silberman in Paris in 1964.  Paul was excited to see what an artist might do with his image and gave me permission to modify the structure as needed.  This piece is my first attempt to paint on a sheet of copper.  After hammering out the large sheet of recycled flower box liner, I cut it down to my format size, sanded it, cleaned it with vinegar, and finally abraded the surface with garlic cloves!  It is mounted to an exterior-grade panel.  I allowed areas of the initial oil sketch on the copper to show in contrast to the highly detailed surface of the fruit.  The sense of unity in this work is attempted through the repetition of rounded shapes (fruit and baskets), the glow of the copper substrate revealed throughout the composition, the three price signs placed to create a triangular movement, and the wicker texture of the baskets. 

Variety in the above components comes from the changes in fruit, signs, and basket details.  Notice that in Silberman’s photo two of the baskets are peaches.  I changed the lower left to apricots to benefit from one more element of variety and change in color.

Oil on Repurposed Copper – 30 x 60 inches

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This painting started as a small 10x20 inch plein air painting done in the early summer of 2017.  The repetition and spacing of the bluffs lend a bit of formal balance.  The pinon pine trees with their uniform shapes and color give a consistent treatment to the lower third.  But the real balance feels more a-symmetrical with the cloudy sky and offset diagonals of the slope falling away from the “march” of bluffs.

This painting allows the repurposed copper sheet and the brass nailing to show through.  The sheet was recently given to me by Mavro and Donna Coggins before they moved from the Greeley area.  I wanted to allow the oxidized copper and irregular surface to have an effect on the painting.

Oil on Panel – 27 x 37 inches

This image is from my wife and my 40th Anniversary trip to Alaska.  In Ketchikan, a locale that boasts 26 feet of rain per year, hemlock trees can be found growing up on the stumps of their ancestors!  The guides nicknamed these “nursery trees!”  When the stump finally decomposes completely, an amazing canopy of roots is the result.

The composition of this painting is based on the “diagonal method” of composition.  From the opposing corners a diagonal line is drawn.  Then I drew a perpendicular line (45 degree right angle) that reached the other corners.  Upon this underlying, I placed roots, trunks, and branches.  The theory is that this type of placement is pleasing to a person’s sense of aesthetics and beauty! 

Oil – 16 x 20 inches

The afternoon following our amazing flight into Denali, a downpour hit the town of Talkeetna and the southeast corner of the Denali Park.  This change in weather lasted for days.  As we waited in our lodge room, I painted a small study of the rain in front of the neighboring building.  I was hoping to emphasize the dripping, wet, moisture-laden surroundings.  I hoped that allowing the underpainting to run down the canvas would increase the feeling of the downpour.  Unlike some of my more recent works where I have tried to commit to the darkest value early on in the process, here I had to sacrifice that and work towards a different emphasis.

12 x 12 inches – Oil on sized paper

This is one more of the paintings from the southwestern painting trip I took with Berndt Savig and Saul Maurer.  On this particular morning’s plein air adventure, I found myself just down the rim from Berndt as he was painting.  I was stricken by the small size of the artist against the grand scale of the cliff rim.  This oil is painted on a “sized” hand-made paper that Berndt had given me that morning.

Oil – 30 x 40 inches - $2650

Many of my recent southwest landscape pieces are the result of a painting trip that I took with Berndt Savig and his college art-buddy Saul Maurer to western Colorado near the Colorado River.  The image began as a small plein air study.  The intent of this work is to play with rhythmic intervals of the cliff faces and scalloped edges of the dry creek bed.  To add to this, I attempted to simplify the pinon and sage slopes covering the valley to add a type of "staccato" background to the "music" of the image.

The initial blocking in of values was inspired from a chapter in Juliette Aristedes’ book, Lessons in Classical Painting.  She calls the process a tonal underpainting which consists of wiping away wet paint where the highest values (light areas) are and then recommitting to the darkest values by adding additional dark paint and restating the lights with additional white.  This “subtractive” method is a typical drawing technique with charcoal and is even standard in a simpler form in painting with acrylics or oils.  Aristedes’ technique added refining steps to the process that I found helpful.