Author name: emily

Art Tour: Golden Arts Festival, CO

Categories: Art Tours, Arts Festival, Colorado, Golden, landscape, painting, Rocky Mountains, sculpture, travel

The town of Golden is located west of Denver, just north of I-70. Established during the Gold Rush, Golden has tons of history, including the Coors Brewery, The Capital Grill (which is the building that housed Colorado’s first state capital, before it moved to Denver), and Colorado School of Mines. Golden is full of character with no shortage of fun activities, including their annual Arts Festival. Whatever you do in Golden, you must stop off for $1.25 Coors Draft Happy Hour at the Capital Grill. If you’re lucky, you can sit on the patio on a Friday evening and watch vintage cars cruise the main streets- a hit with adults and kids!
The Golden Arts Festival had a gorgeous backdrop of sunny skies and Rocky Mountains. A cowboy town at heart, the festival provided art of exceptional quality that was both traditional and contemporary. Here are some of my favorites!
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Plein Air Painting: Day 2- Painting

Categories: drawing, Elysian Studios, En Plein Air, landscape, painting, supplies, tutorial, youtube

The first thing I learned about Plein Air painting is that preparation is key! I didn’t venture beyond my front porch, as just moving all of my materials from my studio was quite the effort!

Here are the essential supplies you need to get outdoors and paint:

• a portable easel (mine is a Julian French Box Easel)
• a jar with a tight lid for your turpentine
• an empty can to hold turpentine while you paint
• a bottle with pour spout for linseed oil mix
• paints,brushes, and palette
• canvas or painting surface (I used Fredrix canvas paper)
• roll of paper towels and plastic grocery bag for trash and cleanup
• SUN PROTECTION!! sunscreen, hat, umbrella…
• something to carry wet paintings (see Artmate Wet Canvas Carrier)

In this video, I will briefly outline the process of making three paintings from three different outdoor views. Because light changes so quickly outdoors, the paintings are very loose. The focus of this is to look at color and landscape elements as the exist in nature, and to begin to learn how to convey them in paint color and brushwork.

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New Paintings

Categories: Elysian Studios, landscape, painting, Rocky Mountains

“Waves of Grass” oil on canvas, mounted on board by Erin Fickert-Rowland copyright 2010

This image is of Guanella Pass and is painted from photographic reference. The sea of tufted purple grasses were so striking next to the barren golden mountainside. I am continually amazed and inspired by Colorado’s majestic landscape.

“Piazza Navona: Il Fascino di Roma” oil on canvas by Erin Fickert-Rowland copyright 2010

I am in love with Rome, and Piazza Navona holds a very special place in my heart. This painting plays with perspective, and focuses on the hand that holds the image. I have used a complementary color scheme to create simple, yet harmonious tones throughout the painting.

“Flight” oil on canvas by Erin Fickert-Rowland copyright 2010

Years ago this little blue butterfly landed on my hand when I happened to have a camera nearby. Its been long enough I just can’t remember how it all worked out, but it was a beautiful serendipitous moment. Again studying the hand, I was inspired by the paintings of Pierre Bonnard for the whimsical colors in the landscape. The black lines suggest both movement and visual abstraction, contributing to the emotional elements of the image.

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