Plein Air Adventures,plein air, Oil paintings,fall aspen ,aspen trees

Plein Air Painting Adventures ( or misadventures)  Story follows paintings below. 

Indian Mountain, 9x12 plein air oil painting

View from Cabin Deck, 9x12 plein air oil painting

Near Basalt, 6x8 plein air oil painting

Plein Air Painting Misadventures

(At least one pretty rough start)

Every fall I take about a week and head into the mountains to paint the gorgeous scenery.

My first painting site on this particular adventure was Kenosha Pass. It was a late afternoon weekday.  Slightly rainy, very foggy, and a little on the cool side. There was nobody up at Kenosha and I drove far into the forest. I hopped out of my trusty ol’ 4 door yellow jeep and began taking photographs. It was lovely. A foggy autumn kind of lovely.

 After about 30 minutes it started to rain more heavily and I began to get pretty wet and cold. I headed back to the jeep but .....my keys were gone! And I'd walked all over the place, including off the trail and into some deep grassy areas. I was locked out of the jeep, cold and wet and had no cell phone coverage. I searched for about an hour and was beginning to panic.  I even started to cry.  There wasn't a soul in sight and I hated the idea of hitching a ride on 285! 

 Shortly after sending up a desperate prayer for help and through divine intervention I am sure, I finally found the keys in a grassy area well off the beaten path.  I made it to the cabin in Indian Mountain and made myself a nice, warm cozy fire in the wood stove. I took off my wet wool socks and set them on the wood stove's mantle to dry.

On the second day of my solo plein air painting trip I hopped on my little enduro motorcycle and tooled around Indian Mountain taking photographs with the brand-new expensive Canon camera that my husband had just bought me for my birthday. I returned to the cabin and set the camera on the motorcycle seat and did a quick plein air painting of some fallen trees outside of my cabin. The painting turned out well and I decided to reward that small success with another quick mo-mo ride.

I love to ride my motorcycle on the dirt roads of Indian Mountain in the fall!  The crisp, cool air, shimmering golden -yellow aspen and the wafting scent of scattered campfires is intoxicating.  How in the world I overlooked this next part I've no clue. But I hopped on the motorcycle and started down the worn dirt driveway when suddenly I heard a grinding, gnashing, awful, crunching sound. I'd sat on the strap of the camera, and the camera swung over into the back tire and was being desecrated by the churning spokes.  Bye- bye, nice, new, expensive camera lens. (Thank goodness the body of the camera was intact, although I was sure at the time it, too, was ruined.)

  Feeling beat up and defeated by my own stupidity I took refuge back inside the cabin only to find my wool socks burnt to a crisp on the fire mantel from the previous night. I could've burnt the place down. 

As far as I recall there were no other major gaffes on that particular trip,  but when I have that many misadventures in a row I tend to get fed up and reign it in. I can really focus and concentrate when I need to, although I do tend to reside most often on the comfortable, breezy, artistic right side of my brain, which can get me into big trouble. Ah, the joys and struggles of the artistic life!

Next time:  Looking on the Bright Side of Things

(when tightly wrapped, frozen beef defrosts then explodes inside of your Plein Air Paintmobile (AKA yellow jeep) on a very hot summer day.)

Artists' retreat artist's retreat plein air painting Colorado fall folliage Colorado cabins

Better Than a Bed and Breakfast Artists' Retreat!

(Price includes all meals and housing for the long weekend in the mountain cabin among the beautiful fall folliage.)

The menu for the Ladies Artists' Retreat is outlined below.


Thursday evening, after drinks and appetizers:

Spaghetti with salad and bread
Wine
Dessert by campfire

Friday morning:
Egg, potato and sausage burritos
Fruit
Orange Juice
Coffee

Lunch: every day we will each make and pack our own lunch.  Food provided by your humble hostess.

Friday evening:
Portabella-cheese stuffed burgers on the grill
Tracy's original healthy home-made baked french fries with special dipping sauce
Dessert by campfire

Saturday morning:
Specialty pancakes with nutella, bananas and strawberries topped with warm maple syrup and powdered sugar
Bacon
OJ
Coffee

Saturday evening:
Made-from- scratch chili rellenos with Tracy's scrumpdidilyumptious green chili
Puerto Rican beans
Dessert

Sunday morning:

Bagels and cream cheese
Fruit
Coffee

The retreat will wrap up Sunday after a morning paint out and lunch.

Sign up by going to my website: http://tracyhaines.fineartstudioonline.com
e mail: Tracy8haines@msn.com

ladies artists' retreat,plein air,plein air paint outs, oil painting, pastel painting, Colorado, mountains, art retreats,

As promised.........

Below is the detailed menu for the upcoming September Ladies Artists' Retreats mentioned in the last blog post.

But first..........

I wanted to give you a little background on the conception for the retreat.  

View near cabin in Indian Mountain at night

Our dog, Renoir, walking towards cabin. Pooch will not be with us on retreat.

I've been on a number of out-of-town paint-outs with other artists. All of them have involved sharing close quarters with both strangers and painting buddies. Without exception, the experiences have been phenomenal.  The feedback/critiques on the daily paintings, the sharing of tips and information and the camaraderie have made these retreats fun and tremendously helpful to my growth as an artist.

My husband and I have had our cabin since 2007.  Our youngest child will enter college next year and with that, we will have 3 kids in college at the same time. To help with that expense, we considered selling the cabin.  After brain storming a bit, the idea for the retreat came.  Because similar retreats have been so enjoyable and helpful to me, I decided to give this idea a try.  We've also placed the cabin on VRBO, with nice success,  and feel comfortable at this point keeping our wonderful "home away from home".

                                                                  view near cabin

plein air piece near cabin

Plein air piece near Buena Vista

                                         

(If you have happened upon this page by chance,  the details of the retreat are outlined in the previous post below, dated July 18, 2015)

Now the menu:

Thursday evening, after drinks and appetizers:

Spaghetti with salad and bread
Wine
Dessert by campfire

Friday morning:
Egg, potato and sausage burritos
Fruit
Orange Juice
Coffee

Lunch: every day we will each make and pack our own lunch.  Food provided by your humble hostess.

Friday evening:
Portabella-cheese stuffed burgers on the grill
Tracy's original healthy home-made baked french fries with special dipping sauce
Dessert by campfire

Saturday morning:
Specialty pancakes with nutella, bananas and strawberries topped with warm maple syrup and powdered sugar
Bacon
OJ
Coffee

Saturday evening:
Made-from- scratch chili rellenos with Tracy's scrumpdidilyumptious green chili
Puerto Rican beans
Dessert

Sunday morning:

Bagels and cream cheese
Fruit
Coffee

The retreat will wrap up Sunday after a morning paint out and lunch.

Sign up by going to blog post below, July 18th.
e mail: Tracy8haines@msn.com

Artists' Retreat,plein air painting,mountains,fall aspen,paintings,

Ladies Artists' Retreat
****************
Plein Air Paint-Out
**************** 
Better than a Bed and Breakfast
                               
                               

 Eat, drink, live and breath art for 3 days and 3 nights with 3-5 other artists in a beautiful mountain setting.
Why just ladies? You'll see.....read on! :)
 ( Guys- we will get one set up for you soon)

 Here's the scoop:

Every fall, in late September, I head up to our place in Indian Mountain (South Park area- Jefferson , Colorado- about 15 miles north of Fairplay) to paint the scenery.  It's absolutely gorgeous.  I thought it would be fun to try out an idea, and this may become a regular thing:

From Thursday to Sunday ( September 17-20 and September 24-27) a maximum of 5 artists ( including me) will stay together at the cabin.   I, your hostess, will guide the group to some of my favorite painting spots. We will paint outside all day Friday and Saturday, and half of Sunday. All meals are included in the cost.

The long weekend will kick off Thursday.  Painters arrive between 4-6 pm, settle in and enjoy drinks and hors devours.  Dinner will be served at 6:30.

Friday and Saturday, after a leisurely breakfast, we will each make and pack our own lunches ( food provided for this) and head out to paint from 9:30 or 10:00 until 1:00 or so.   After a nice picnic lunch, we will head to a new location to paint for the afternoon.

We will arrive back at the cabin between 5-7 and relax by a campfire or on the large deck while I prepare dinner.  We will enjoy nightly critiques of all the paintings, and share tips and ideas. I have a nice library of art books and some painting DVDs of various artists that will be on hand at the cabin.

The total cost for the long weekend is $ 400.00 per person.  This includes 2 glasses of wine each with dinners.  Feel free to bring other beverages of your choice for the weekend.

Sleeping arrangements are as follows:

The master bedroom has one queen sized bed.
The guest bedroom has 2 bunk beds, with double -sized futons on the bottoms of both bunks.
The living room couch pulls out into a queen bed.  There are two full bathrooms.

So, it's cozy.   It's perfect for a *group of friends, and unique and daring for 4-5 utter strangers.  But artists tend to hit it off immediately, in general, and what a fun way to make some new friends!
If you like adventure, and love to paint the beauty of the mountains in the fall, please, sign up!

* If you are a group of friends interested in doing this, I am happy to include more people ( up to 8 friends) for a private retreat  ( with or without me there as guide and cook) so e-mail or call me to discuss this option.

Nitty Gritty Stuff

The cabin is located about 75 miles from Littleton, CO, or about 90 miles from Denver.  It's off I-285, so the traffic problems associated with I-70 are conveniently avoided. Breckenridge is a 45-60 minute drive, and Buena Vista about 60 minutes away.

This retreat will be casual.  No tight schedules.  If anyone prefers to relax back at the cabin after half a day of painting, that is perfectly fine. There is also hiking, biking, horseback riding and other activities available not far from the cabin.
 You will need a car.  I have a jeep, but with painting equipment we will need at least one other vehicle for car pooling to the painting sites.  A car with 4-wheel drive would be best, as the road to the cabin is unpaved.

A detailed menu for the weekends will be laid out in a subsequent blog post.

Mountain weather is very unpredictable.  There will not be refunds for bad weather.  We will do our best and paint inside the cabin if need be.

Cancellation/Refund policy:

100% refund if cancel 2 weeks prior to retreat
50% refund if cancel one week prior to retreat

To pay, e-mail me at Tracy8haines@msn.com and let me know which of the two dates you prefer ( September 17-20 or Sept. 24-27.  I will then send you an invoice via paypal.  You may also pay by check if you prefer.

Please call me or e-mail with any questions.
Tracy 303-525-6871
Tracy8haines@msn.com

Visit my website at Tracyhaines.com or check out my you tubes on YouTube channel, Tracy Haines Fine Art.

oil paintings Colorado mountains and streams snow Breckenridge fine art

                                                       Winter at Matthew Winters Park
                                            16x20 oil on stretched canvas by Tracy Haines
                                                       $400.00 Framed  (gold plein air frame)

local pick up or shipping

Shipping within USA $430.00 USD local pick up $400.00 USD

Winter at MWP above was completed in the studio after I had done a plein air study on location.  I love doing winter scenes, partly because I just love to paint with blue!

Well, my studio re-organization project is coming along nicely.  On a whim,  I decided to paint two of the walls with a warm, neutral gray.  I think I like it, but will live with the color for a bit before putting things back in place.  Want to make sure it does not leave the studio too dark.

I have been a bit under the weather all week with a re-root canal proceedure that has not gone as smoothly as in the past.
I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, I shall keep this post shorter than usual.

If you are in the Breckenridge area July 24-26, please stop by the Breckenridge Main Street Art Festival.

Until next week........

Avoiding Artist Block

This is a recent underpainting using bold strokes of bright color.

One thing I have discovered that is tremendously useful for me as an artist is to leave the studio at the end of the day with something that is in progress.

All of us suffer from the occasional artist block. Or, maybe we are not exactly blocked, but we just can't seem to get to work.  We get busy, but the business is a cover up: we are procrastinating and we know it..... and it's an uncomfortable feeling.

Having a work in progress seems to lessen those times for me.

Tracy Haines pastels paintings landscapes crested Butte Colorado wildflowers mountains hills streams

Title:  Hill's Pattern in Crested Butte

Artist: Tracy Haines

Medium: Pastel on black Canson mi Tientes mattboard

Size:  8x10

Unframed

This is one of many plein air pieces I did on a trip back to Crested Butte, Colorado earlier this July.  The scenes everywhere were simply show-stopping.  It was the week of the wildflower festival.  This year the color purple seemed to dominate over the yellow we saw in abundance last year.  I loved the pattern the hills and trees made, and the hint of the stream leading the eye comfortably into the composition.

Tracy Haines pastels landscapes paintings art plein air crested Butte Colorado mountains

Title:  Evening in Crested Butte

Artist: Tracy Haines

Medium: Pastel on sanded archival-treated MDF board

Size:  8x10

Unframed

This is one of many plein air pieces I did on a trip back to Crested Butte, Colorado earlier this July.  The scenes everywhere were simply show-stopping.  It was the week of the wildflower festival.  This year the color purple seemed to dominate over the yellow we saw in abundance last year. 

Tracy Haines pastel painting plein air impressionist mountains fall aspen colors como colorado art wall art

Title:  Beck's View

Artist: Tracy Haines

Medium: Pastel on Ampersand's Pastelboard

Size:  8x10

Unframed

Winding up Antler Ridge in Indian Mountain, my sister Becky and I were struck by this gorgeous view.  

Haines original art landscape paintings oil on canvas mount Elbert Colorado mountains fall foliage aspen trees paths

Mount Elbert is a 9x12 oil on linen canvas attached to masonite. This piece was done plein air.

Thrice I've tried to climb this 14er!  Each time we were forced to turn around and beat a hasty retreat. At one point we were a mere 30 minutes from the peak.  One day, perhaps. (although this ole body is starting to kick back against things like 14ers.....)

Tracy Haines, colorful, Colorado, landscapes, pastels, mountains, trees, snow aspen

Title:  Aspens in Springtime Artist: Tracy Haines Medium: Pastel on archival Canson mi Tientes paper Size:  8x10 Unframed I was attracted to the gorgeous colors of the scene here and also liked the vertical light aspen trees against the parallel arrangement of bands of colors from the ground on up to the sky.

Tracy Haines original oil paintings on linen canvas plain air trees streams light Colorado landscapes impressionism

Title:  O'Fallon Park Artist: Tracy Haines Medium: Oil on linen canvas on masonite Size : 9x12 Unframed This painting was done en plein air on a beautiful spring day in the mountains of Colorado.  It was delightful to paint on such a crisp, fresh morning to the music of a swiftly flowing stream!

Tracy Haines ACEO collectible fine art original paintings acrylics miniature aspen trees Colorado mountains Brekenridge

Title: Breckenridge Fall  Artist: Tracy Haines Medium: Acrylic Size: 3 1/2 x 2 1/2  (Standard ACEO size) On this gorgeous, crisp, cool fall day I set up my easel and painted this sweet aspen tree.  It glowed against a sublime backdrop of deepening blue-purple mountains as the sun began to descend.