Beautiful Estes Park Colorado

Doesn't this scene just take your breath away? The peace and serenity of locations like this in Rocky Mountain National Park are well worth the hike to get to them. Although my legs and ankles would beg to differ with that comment.

Dan & I took a small vacation this past week and enjoyed the beauty of Estes Park in the Fall. The pictures I'm sharing here are Dan's. The weather was not terribly cooperative for most of the time spent there, however, there were some gorgeous moments that Dan captured and I wanted to share.



This feisty little Steller Jay joined us for lunch at the lake. I didn't realize that the crinkling noise made by Clif Bar wrappers or plastic bags would lure the wildlife in like it did this guy. He was very animated and extremely wishful for a bite of our food. I'm fairly certain that other visitors had shared with him in the past based on his reaction to the noise from our food wrappers. He made a wonderful subject for a photo shoot and Dan was able to get so many pictures of him I can definitely see doing a stained glass window of him.

Mr. Big

This is the largest elk that Dan & I have ever seen. For those of you who have not experienced our national parks, it's fairly common to see people pull over to view the wild life. We always look to see what the spectacle might be and this time it was HIM! Neither Dan or I had ever seen an elk this large. I counted 9 points on one side of his antlers. I believe a Royal Elk has 7 points a side....this guy was beyond Royal! Of course, he bugled and we have no idea why he wasn't surrounded by girls. He was magnificent and since he was closer to where we had just finished our hike, he was less comfortable with people than the other elk in the meadows down by the park entrance. He didn't hang around long, but at least Dan was able to get a number of photos of him.

We're back home and the bassets are happy to have our company again. There's something about being out in nature that recharges my batteries.

Here's wishing all of you a great week of creativity!

Opening Receptions

It's been an extended weekend of opening receptions for Dan and I. On Friday night we were in Estes Park for the opening reception of the Lines Into Shapes show. It was a great opportunity to view all of the art work that has been accepted into that show and we would encourage any of you who are in the area to visit this exhibit. It runs through October 4th.

Here is a link to the winners in each of the categories, including Best of Show and People's Choice. Clearly there are a lot of talented artists in this show and we are happy to be a part of it. Attendance was great for the opening too. No, Dan & I didn't win in any of our respective categories....but you know, it truly is great that both of us had work accepted into this show. We feel we are among great company with the artists that were selected to participate.

Last night we went to Denver to attend the opening of Riva Sweetrocket's Heaven & Earth Exhibit at the Buell Theater. I think Riva is the nicest person you could ever meet and it's is wonderful to have her as a friend. In addition to being a wonderful person, she is a great talent. Her medium is pastels and her works just take your breath away.

20th Annual Castle Rock Art Festival

Lexi Erickson's Archaeologica Art Jewelry

Just Announced.... Lexi won Best of Fine Craft for this Show!!!
She is automatically accepted into next year's show.
Congrats and Well Deserved my dear friend.

Yesterday, Dan and I went to the Castle Rock Art Festival. This is the first time we've attended the event, even though both of us have lived in this area for over 15 years! Our main motivation to go was to see Lexi's booth. She's changed the look and feel of it to better represent her line of art jewelry, called Archaeologica.

Beautiful bronze sculptures

The weather was overcast that morning and it was cool. Fall is coming to the Rockies. There was a nice crowd and we were happy to see more people were buying from the artists than we had seen at previous shows this year.

Paintings and metalwork

The caliber of the artists in this show is really outstanding. I think the jury is very selective and discriminating in their choices and it truly shows.


In the afternoon, the skies opened up and according to Lexi it just poured. That chased all the potential shoppers home and the artists closed shop early for the day because it was a driving rain, no customers, and I can only imagine how tired they were.


Today is the last day of the show and right now the weather is overcast and it is cold. The forecast indicates that it should get into the mid 70's today and that would be great for all.

Loved these large Aspen paintings!

It's a very nice show and Dan & I are considering applying for it next year with a 10' x 20' booth for Krucoff Studios. Dan can display his photographs and I can have a variety of my glass and metal works.

May all of you have a wonderful day and week of creativity! Aspire to be more as an artist and a person.

Featured on Art Center Post Card

Lines Into Shapes Post Card

Tonight, Dan & I received an email from The Art Center of Estes Park with the poster and post card they will be mailing out to publicize the Lines Into Shapes show. They send this information to the artists so we can print copies and distribute information about the show too.

I glanced at the poster, but didn't open up the pdf file to look at the post card. Dan comes into the office and tells me that both of my pieces are on the post card. My jaw hit the floor...if you heard a loud thud, that was my jaw dropping!

To my delight and amazement, both Puzzle, the pendant, and A Grove of Trees, the bowl are on the front of this post card. I had to share. I feel so blessed.

Happy Creating Everyone!

Autumn

Autumn

Don't the colors in this bowl remind you of fall and the trees changing? As you can see there is a heavy concentration of rusts and oranges in this piece. I left a little of the green just to give the impression that the tree leaves had not changed color completely. In this case one of my favorite Bullseye colors, Mineral Green, to represent the remaining leaves. And I added some Bullseye marzipan and amber streakie to represent a little of the tree bark...I'm thinking of Aspen bark.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp cool air as summer fades. Aspens are one of my favorite trees. They generally turn a beautiful rich gold, but there are those rich russet ones that show up here and there as Dan & I find when we hike in the fall. I can't wait! This year we will hike Rocky Mountain National Park and I'll be looking for those rust colored Aspens, while the bull elks bugle in the background. I love fall.

Addendum: Photo credit ~ Daniel Krucoff

The Minis

A Small Grove of Trees

Over the weekend, I completed the work on three small sushi dishes. One of these will be my entry in the miniatures portion of The Lines Into Shapes Show in Estes Park. After looking at all of them, I decided the one that looks the most like A Grove of Trees will be my submission for the miniature category. A Small Grove of Trees, pictured above, became the obvious choice.

Each of these are approximately 4" square. And I used some of my favorite Bullseye glasses for these dishes.

The runners up are:

Tranquility

This one reminds me a little of An Arrow in the Forest, only without the arrow. I love the green hues in this, however, I kept coming back to the one that more closely resembled A Grove of Trees.

Autumn Strings

As I was working on designs for the minis, Dan thought it would be fun if I worked on a collection of the straight stringers, lining them up. I started with that and just wasn't feelin' it, so I mixed it all up and included some of the vitrigraphs I had created. I'm pleased with the look and layering.

These are the minis. I think they are cute and fun. Now I hope others will find them appealing and consider adding them to their art glass collections.

May all of you have a wonderful week of creativity!