Painting Winter in SpringI
- On June 15, 2009
- By Aaron
- In Field Notes
1
In early May I headed down to the Tetons for a dirtbag painting adventure. After dropping off new paintings at Legacy Gallery, I painted for three days. I thought I would enjoy a nice spring trip: snow in the mountains, a few drifts down low, and new spring green. Well… um… reality: 3-4 feet of snow, ice on the lakes, and a low of 17 degrees! I’ve never been so cold in May!I slept at the String Lake parking lot in my van, cooked off of a backpacking stove and painted from dawn till dusk. The best part was that I had the whole park to myself! On the first day I watched an otter swim out from beneath the ice and run around. The following morning a grey jay landed on top of my easel and then hopped right on to my hand. We looked at each other for about fifteen seconds before it flew off. I half expected it to start talking, to send me on a quest. Here’s some pics from the trip:.
One problem was that as the day warmed up, I’d start sinking into the snow. In the above picture I’m standing happily on the crust. By noon I was sinking to my knees in the snow, and realizing that beneath the snow was thin ice…There is something so deeply transcendent about entering into such a world and seeing no one, just painting and looking and trying to understand a little more of what we are given. Here are some of the paintings that I came home with. They are all in the 8×10- 9×12 range.
1st Grade Virtuosos
- On June 3, 2009
- By Aaron
- In brags
- 2
I recently collaborated with my son’s first grade class to do a pastel painting. I had the kids come up to the easel one at a time, and I handed them an pastel and gave them some instruction. The picture that they did was auctioned off at a school art show to raise money for art supplies. I’m so impressed with how well little kids listen. All I did is smooth out a few edges with my finger- 95% of this pastel comes from the little hands of a fine group of six and seven year olds. Great work everyone! Here’s the pastel painting:
Here are the proud collaborators:
The pastel fetched $200 at the auction, a very respectable price! I wish making art was always this much fun!