Streetscapes

Went up to Crested Butte the other day and I must say it was an absolutely beautiful day for a ride…just perfect. The Oh Be Joyful Gallery is hosting a plein air paint out and show in mid July and I am one of 45 artists nationwide that has been invited to participate. Typically we artists will fan out into the surrounding countryside and paint these scenic Rocky Mountains. I’ve done this with the Telluride Plein Aire Festival for several years.


This time I’m going to approach it all a little differently. The town of Crested Butte is a particularly colorful little berg. The multicolored old Victorian style buildings are really very interesting. Walking around the streets, checking things out, I decided that I would paint in town. The architecture and color is simply too interesting to pass up…not to mention the characters, and as you all know, I love to paint characters.

While Telluride has to be known for the number of dogs in their town, Crested Butte holds the record for the number of bicycles. Good grief. They were everywhere. It’s hard to believe that there are enough members of that community to pedal all those bikes around. Very brightly painted old school bikes in the style of the 50’s with baskets on them parked next to dirty well used mountain bikes. Great subject matter.

My wife Kathy and I spent a couple of hours walking up and down historic Elk Ave which is the main drag. We wandered onto the side streets and ventured into the adjoining alleys where the real treasures were to be found as we discovered. There are little, and I mean LITTLE eateries adorned with lively colored flower boxes tucked away in the most obscure places …more good stuff to paint.

I’ve painted in the Crested Butte area before. CB is well known for their wildflowers. They even have a wildflower festival. The landscape in the area is as good as it gets but I think that this time I’m going to go for the streetscapes. There is just too much good stuff to pass up in that little town.

Painting on the streets, however, is a completely different challenge than being out in the countryside. Lots of distractions. Folks tend to gather around thereby creating a lot of pressure on you not to screw the painting up. Every stroke has to count. Especially since I will be doing watercolors in which there is little tolerance for mistakes.

I’m going to go on my Harley, take a watercolor kit and paint right from the bike. It’ll be easy to get around and park where I need to. That ought to be a sight. In fact I'm headed up there this weekend for several days of painting. Camping, painting and riding my Harley. Can't think of a better way to spend Father's Day. I’ll keep you posted.