FALL CELEBRATION
Sept. 11 - Oct. 13
opening reception
Saturday, Sept. 15 ~ 5 pm - 7 pm
Paintings by Coni Grant
For more about Coni Grant visit her website:
18 area artists are displaying their artwork in this show: La Veta artists Margie Bradley, Albert Clymer, Ann Gethen, Yvonne Headrick, Kathy Hill, and Barbara Kowalik; Walsenburg artists Marilyn and Tom Downs, and Sharon Cairns Mann; Navajo Ranch and Navajo Estates artists J. Burke Sheehan, Pat Newell, Betty Philibosian and Phyllis Smith; Diane Buchanan from Pryor; Roger Eriksen, Monte Vista; Cas Foste, Alamosa; Robert Kosslyn, Weston; Mary Lynne Pruitt, Lamar; and Rick Smith, Aguilar.
Winner of the People's Choice Award, determined by votes of those attending the opening reception, was Tom Downs (below) for his wood carving "Ol' Wrangler"
Featured Artist
Coni Grant
Nature and my surroundings have always influenced my outlook on life. Outside, be it natural or urban, this is where my inspiration is born and plein air painting allows me to express the connection I feel with a place. The term ”plein air”, coined by the French Impressionists, refers to painting out of doors. Not, as ‘high falutin’ as it sounds, it can be painting at its most raw, pitting artist against the elements, extreme weather, the public, and if that’s not enough, a view, constantly on the move. In spite of this, working in the landscape is its own reward. Dramatic weather and changing conditions add depth to the experience as well as to the work. Any day painting out is a good day.
I have been called an expressionist, and a colorist, which simply means I express my personal vision with color. I call it resonant color and use it to communicate the exhilaration I experience when painting in the landscape. Reinterpreting nature through the perception of resonant color provokes the observer and invites them to be drawn into a view of the landscape that is, both challenging and thrilling.
Though primarily a plein air painter, when the brilliant colors of fall have faded and temps drop below freezing I head for the studio to work on larger pieces developed from my studies or sketches. I have been influenced by painters of the American West and Canada, where plein air work has a great tradition, but also by the expressionist painters of the early 20th century. In the last 11 years I have lived and painted in California, Kansas, Montana, Newfoundland, Canada and most recently Colorado, where, I am as easily found in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range as I am among the industrial buildings of Alamosa, Colorado. The best part is just being in it - living the connection.
