A Visual Paradise

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Wednesday, November 29th, 2023

A Visual Paradise for Plein Air Painting

By Rita Pacheco

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Rita Pacheco, "Lil' Red on the Fourth of July," 8" x 10", available

On plein air painting > An artist shares her favorite place to paint, which has gone from being a mining town to a tourist destination. Can you guess where?

A while back, I was asked by Bob Bahr at PleinAir® Magazine where my favorite place to paint was and he wrote an article based on my response. It was published at that time and recently re-published in Plein Air Today. A native Californian, I lived in San Diego and I told Bob about a lagoon in Carlsbad where I found myself more often than anywhere else in my area. (See the original article here.)

More recently, my "favorite place" has changed (not that I wouldn't park myself and my gear at the Batiquitos Lagoon today given the opportunity!) Three years ago my husband and I relocated to Ridgway, Colorado. We had become acquainted with this region of Colorado through our yearly visits to Telluride for the Telluride Plein Air Invitational, where I had participated for more than 10 years. When we were here all those summers, we both agreed that it would be a great place to retire (if only I weren't afraid of those snowy winters!)

A series of events allowed us to make the move here, and luckily we discovered that the snow was not only manageable, but a joy to live, hike, ski, and paint in! (I have a few requirements for painting outside in the snow; one of them is that the temperature has to be above 30 degrees…I've seen other painters rough colder weather and I'm truly impressed but my fingers just don't cooperate at anything less than 30!)

Witnessing the change in seasons has been glorious, and a joy to paint! (Admittedly, some of my winter scenes have been studio paintings based on photo references and quickly taken "color notes" en plein air.)

My favorite place for plein air painting is the old mining town turned popular tourist destination – Telluride.

I'm always excited and challenged to paint "things" in the landscape:

architecture, cars, etc., and this town has an abundance of all of these. I'm particularly fond of older buildings, and Tellurides' are either a hundred years old, or refurbished to appear so. Their fire engine is a darling old 1940s Ford – always fun to paint!

Telluride is also near the Cimarron and Sneffels Mountain Range, the quaint town of Ridgway where we live, and some glorious waterfalls, a visual paradise for plein air painting.

Here are some examples of my most recent Southwest Colorado paintings:

Rita Pacheco, "Telluride Balloon Festival," 20" x 16", available at the Turquoise Door Gallery in Telluride

Rita Pacheco, "Courting," 16" x 16", available

Rita Pacheco, "Telluride Texting," 20" x 10", available

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Rita Pacheco, "Corrals of San Miguel" (these corrals are dated before Telluride!), 8" x 10", available

Rita Pacheco, "Wilson Peak," 8" x 12", available at the Turquoise Door Gallery

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Art Snippet: When It's OK to Avoid Reality

From Iain Stewart's 2023 Watercolor Live session

"You don't have to let reality get in the way of a great painting." At the 2023 Watercolor Live virtual art conference, Iain Stewart gave us an on-camera demo on painting a landscape with a focus on how to "suggest" and "indicate" your scene without "explaining" it in too much detail. He said he uses his reference photo, a study, and sketches as his guides while he paints.

"The energy of the room has become so wonderfully cheerful. We CANNOT NOT absorb some learning while enjoying the process!" ~Sylvia L., Watercolor Live attendee

The next Live event is coming in January 2024, so visit WatercolorLive.com now to register and be with fellow artists online for days of demonstrations, Q&A with your favorite artists, and mingling during the breakout rooms and cocktail hours.

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