"Finding Peace on Maroon Bells II"

Phil and Tamara Doss own several of my paintings, and recently commissioned a 48 x 48 of Maroon Bells. They wanted lots of bold, vibrant color with my signature thick texture. It was a fun piece to do. This is the email I just received from the happy collectors:

Hi Jen,

We got it and it is beautiful!! We will try to get a picture over to you tonight. Thank you so much for the wonderful effort. It really stands out in our house.

Thanks again,

Phil and Tamara

Capturing Colorado!

Last week, my husband and I flew to Colorado to take picture of the changing leaves! What a trip. We landed in Denver, and drove about 4 hours to Aspen. We spent the next 5 days taking pictures of the gorgeous scenery. I couldn't get enough of the aspen trees! By the end of the trip we'd logged in 1500 miles in our rental car (good thing we had unlimited miles!) and took over 4,000 pictures! These photos will be the inspiration for my next series of aspen paintings...my only question is which one to paint first?! :)

"Colorado Vista"--48 x 36

There it is again...Maroon Bells in the background. If you've ever been to Colorado, you've seen or at least heard about "Bells." It is one of Colorado's most beautiful mountain ranges. And I happen to love painting it! Very dramatic shadows and shapes. In the fall "Bells" is particularly breath taking! I'm going back this October just to take more pictures. There's about two weeks when all the glorious autumn color peaks. Timing is everything! Then, if you combine all those yellows with vibrant red...you have yourself a painting that will delight the senses. In my opinion, there is no better color combination than yellow/red. It's all about color...and thick texture of course!

"Colorado Spring"--24 x 72

This tall vertical size is really popular right now! It always sells extremely well. I think it's because this size is easy to fit in a house. At only 24" wide it doesn't take a lot of horizontal wall space up. I've done this type of scene before--but never a "Spring" one. Usually, I do it as an "Autumn" piece with lots of yellows and golds. Always I have the Colorado Mountains--"Maroon Bells" in the background. In this scene, I left the mountains with a bit of snow on them...like they would be in Spring. The leaves of the Aspens are fresh and green, while purple and yellow wildflowers speckle the lush forest basin. As always, there's lots of texture in this piece! I literally 'sculpted' on each wild flower with a palette knife. Just shipped this painting off to Royal Street Gallery in Aspen, Colorado.

Here is one of my "Autumn" versions of this painting. Which one do you like better? This one is called, "Mountain Air" and is also currently hanging in Royal Street Gallery in Aspen, Colorado. Perhaps I'll do a whole "Seasons" series, and have them all hang together. That might be cool.

"Aspen Sonata II"--Sold!

(close-up of texture)

Aspen Sonata II
48 x 48
SOLD!

I reworked this painting after it didn't sell within 6 months at one of my Galleries. The result was 100% better! Using all palette knife, I added a lot more vibrant yellows and reds, and enhanced the fir tree in center. The texture was so thick! Overall, I knew this painting would quickly find a new home. I was right! A day after I shipped it to my Gallery in Aspen, it sold!!!

"Upwards" 24 x 72--Sold!

This piece used to be a "Spring" scene with shades of green for the aspen leaves. It didn't sell...and I know why! Who decorates with green? So, I got the painting back from the Gallery, and changed all the green to tones of yellows and golds...and it sold in one day! Yellow with a vibrant blue backdrop is a great combo! Plus, I love the perspective of looking up into the tree It's very nostalgic.

"Autumn Flurry"--60 x 36

Autumn Flurry
60" x 36"

This piece is currently hanging in "Royal Street Gallery" in Aspen, CO