Autumn Folige
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Pumpkin Patch
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Trout Creek
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Metzger Trees
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Metzger Farm
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Gustave Baumann’s house, Santa Fe, NM
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Los Animas Way, Santa Fe
 | Lisa Louie purchased this painting for her husband Paul. Paul grew up in Santa Fe and he told me that he and his friends would ride their bicycles on the hilly roads in this historic town. I could imagine he and his friends coasting their bikes down this fun serpentine road on a sunny day. |
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Miller Farm, Tractors
 | Cathy and I went to Miller farm with our daughter Maura and her six kids to glean for vegetables from the Miller's field. I didn't want to take the hayride to the fields so I set up my easel on the leeward side of an out building. It would have been nice if instead of tractors there was a line of horses. It was a simple joy to make this little painting. |
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Mount Olympus, Salt Lake, Utah
 | Mount Olympus, is a magnificent rock to the east of Salt Lake City. I made this wonderful painting as the sun was rising and its rays were just beginning to touch the ridges. I just love painting big old rock mountains. It's probably because I grew up in Boulder and had the the flatirons and both Bear and Green Mountain outside my front door. |
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LaCaille Vinyard
 | It's difficult to believe that there's a vineyard in the canyon east of Salt Lake City. But there is and the vineyard is beautiful and it looks a little bit like the south of France. I wasn't able to capture the grape orchard but I wanted to make sure I caught the changing colors of the scrub oaks on the mountainside. I loved the texture of the bare rocks, and this was just a joy to paint. |
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Payette Lake, McCall, ID
 | This was painted just as the sun was coming up on a cold October morning. it was almost too cold to be painting with acrylic, but luckily the paint remained liquid. The painting is nearly monochromatic with the the beginning tints of red of autumn. I think the diagonal red buoys bring a nice accent to reflection of the shore and boat docks. |
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Gustave Baumann House Front view
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Dunmore East Bay
 | I knew this would be my last painting on this trip to Ireland. I wanted to make it a good one with the weather promising to be so good. I think I spent too much time driving around to find the prerfect site. As I drove into Dunmore East I settled on the site of their swimming beach. I had painted this before in September 2010. I set up on the rocks next to the rough surf. The scene was back lit with a bright slice of yellow sky. I'm not happy with what's happening with the houses or color swatches on the shore but I'm really happy with the surf. |
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Flanagan's Back Garden
 | I debated whether I should name this Daffodils in Still Life and Landscape. This was my first painting on our 2018 Ireland trip. We arrived in late March and we were expecting an early spring not a late winter. The fields were brown and the trees still dormant but the wild daffodils were in bloom throughout the emerald isle. I was able to paint this from the Flanagan's kitchen table protected from the elements. The vase of daffodils were sitting on the window sill and the garden was in bloom with a profusion of daffodils |
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Autumn East Boulder Creek
 | This is painted from my favorite go-to site under 75th street on the bike path next to Boulder Creek. I’ve done several studies from this site but this day I felt confident that I would make this a finished painting. The final painting was accepted to the 2018 North Metro Artist Alliance annual show. At the award ceremony the judge told me how much she thoroughly enjoyed this painting except for the fact that it looked like the horses were pasted on. I told her yes they were plopped on the painting from Edward Muybridge photo stills of running horses. When painting this site from previous studies I remember fleeting glimpses of horses chasing each other across the pasture. I also repeated the horses galloping at the bottom of the painting where the profile of horses are seen in the white water frothing. |
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Autumn Profile, Morrison Mountain
 | Morrison Mountain is my favorite painting motif it’s so sculptural with the rolling ridges and the north side in cool shadow. The green hills and the cool shadows are accented by the warm pink anthropomorphic shapes of the red rocks. This was the first time that I painted this scene as a portrait so I could give the viewer a view of what is happening in the foreground. |
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Cascade Lake
 | It was our good fortune when we scheduled our annual autumn trip that it coincided with the peak weekend of the changing colors in the Colorado mountains. The aspens colors ranged from golden yellow to pink to coppery red. I really like the immediacy and vibrancy of this little plein air painting. The warm yellow and red values of the aspens are set off by the cool blue and purples of the cool granite rock face. |
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Smith Rocks
 | The Smith Rocks are beautiful sandstone rock cliffs outside of Bend, Oregon. My brother Scott took Cathy and I originally to Smith Rocks over eighteen years ago. I finally got around to visiting Scott with a small panel to paint in 2016. The site is just beautiful and a daunting challenge for rock climbers. |
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Bear Mountain, Boulder
 | "Do not define too closely the outline of things; it is the brush-stroke of the right value and color which should produce the drawing. In mass, the greatest difficulty is not to give the contour in detail, but to paint what is within. Paint the essential character of things, try to convey it by any means whatsoever, without bothering about technique." Camille Pissarro
This is what I hope to capture with my "Gestural Paintings,'" Paul Smallwood Ive always been drawn to the ruggedness of Bear Mountain, the mountain that I looked at everyday growing up in South Boulder. However this three quarter view is a new perspective and I think more exciting then the moiuntain in frontal profile, |
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Eldorado Springs, Mesa Trail
 | This was painted at the Eldorado Springs Trailhead, at the homestead site of the Towhee family. I hope that you are able to see that the Red Stone of the Dakota formation was dressed and mortar set in the building of this structure. I think it works so naturally with the red Flatirons of Bear Mountain. The roof is new and really stands out and reflects the blue of the sky. |
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Gross Reservoir Inlet
 | I'm continuing my studies of images reflected in water. I went to this site with a friend and my painting time was dependent on the quality of his fishing. Since it was a bad day for fishing I wasn't able to finish some details. I do like the sort of Indian Corn colors of the facing hillside and capturing the lone hawk in the sky. |
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Leyden Ridgeback
 | I've driven past this rock formation hundreds of times but never noticed it until another painter painted this scene. I knew the exact spot when he told where it was, on Highway 93 and 80th Ave. I like the strong lights and darks and the gray-green middle tones. I was drawn to this scene by the ruggedness of the rocks the strong contrast between the lights and the darks and the middle tone of gray-green. |
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American River, Folsom, CA
 | I painted this for the most part in Folsom, CA on the American River. I finished up the tree lined hillside from what I remembered in the studio. Cousin Pat Curtin would jump off the bridge into the river when he was a fearless teenager. |
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Pawnee Buttes
 | The horizontal layers created by the harder sediments provided the structure. The diagonal lines, caused by erosion brings excitement to the scene. It looks like visual music with structure and rythmn and slashing strokes of vibrating vibrant pinks and greens. |
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Chataqua House, Boulder, CO
 | Chautauqua the epicentre of summer entertainment for anyone growing up in Boulder. The stepping off point to the mountain park trails and the leader in showing great silent films. The shapes of the Chataqua building are repeated numerous times in the rock faces of the Flatiron. This is always a joy to paint and a challenge with architecture, foreground and rock slabes. |
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East Boulder Farm Building
 | It's beautiful to see open spaces and old farm buildings in the ever growing cosmopolitan city of Boulder, but they are slowly fading away into it’s landscape. I was thinking of this when I was painting this scene you can almost see through the deterating building. The fields and weeds were lush and in full bloom in the early summer of 2015. I really liked how the building walls are almost disappearing, slates missing and the weathered boards are slowly disintergrating. The newer battered roof is holding it together. |
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Poppy Fields
 | I was driving on highway 93 when I caught an intense glimpse of red out of the corner of my eye. I had to turn the car around for a better look. I'm a big fan of Claude Monet's Poppy Fields and I figured I would try my hand in capturing the bright crimson color. |
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South Boulder Barn
 | This old Barn is a relic of the days when Boulder Valley was a farming community. The barn is located at the apex of small piece land where Highway 36 and South Boulder Road intersect. I like how the weathered split rail fence draws your eye into the painting. |
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Four Mile Beach, Austrlia
 | The first painting after my retirement and my first painting in Australia! I truly felt like Paul Gauguin painting on the tropicall beach. The wind was blowing at gale force. Beautiful!! The sea, the surf, and the prevailing winds. |
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Palm Trees, Port Arthur, Australia
 | Port Arthur has a light house on the point but it was built on the steep clifffside. The light house was small and undramatic. I chose to paint the hillside beyond with dramatic Palm Trees and flowering shrubs. |
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St. Mary by the Sea, Port Arthur, Australia
 | I was looking at the obvious repetition of shape with the cross and the gable support. I was also working on how to portray the white clapboard in in cool shadow. I love painting palm trees, what am I doing painting pine trees?!!! |
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Three Sisters, Blue Mtns., Australia
 | The "Three Sisters" are a tourist site in the Blue Mountains a couple hours east of Sydney. The rock formation gets its name from an old aboriginal tale.
The day we went was wet and rainy. I spent a good hour under the umbrella painting a scene which was occasionally completely obliterated by the weather. |
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Hunchback of Notre Dame
 | My son Keith was a bartender at the 'Thin Man'. He suggested to his boss that he could paint the seven Warner Brothers Movie monsters. His boss took a great idea by Keith and ruined his concept. Instead his boss wanted seven different artists paint the monsters. Keith painted an amazing portrait of the 'Bride of Frankenstein', Conor painted 'Frankenstein', and I painted the 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'. A 4' x 5' panel is hard to store anywhere. This winter I will be painting over this painting with a winter scene of Morrison Mountain. |
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Denver Art Museum and Cityscape
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Marshall Ridge, Apples, and Black eyed Susans
 | Painting entered in the 2014 "Colorado Plein Air Competition. |
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Red Rocks, Hogback Ridge
 | The majority of the painting was painted under an umbrella. I was holding the umbrella in one hand and in the other a fist-full of brushes. Except for the rain, a perfect light day without any harsh sunlight and shadows. |
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Rocky Mountains, Rocky Mountain National Park
 | The rocks and glaciers attracted me to this site. |
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Rocky Mtn., Continental Divide
 | Painted at dawn. The sun was obscured by clouds and I did not get The intense light on the rock faces that I was hoping to get. |
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Walden Ponds, Sunset
 | Selected to show in the "Boulder Open Space" juried show. |
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Boulder Creek, slack line
 | This was painting number four in the Paint-a-thon Marathon. Painted from the pedestrian trail along Boulder Creek on a warm Saturday it was almost to crowded to see the creek at times.
Notice the young man on the slack line in the lower left section of the painting. The figure was painted with 4 brush strokes. |
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Goodhue Farm House
 | This was selected for the "Boulder Open Space, Plein Air Competition".
I really like how this plein air painting turned out, I like the freedom of the brush strokes and the spontaneity of the draftsmenship. This is the first painting in my new movement called "Gesturism." |
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Hay bales and Haystack Mountain
 | The fifth painting from the paint-a-thon day. I was tired and very happy to find this composition which was fairly easy to handle. |
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Niwot Colorado, Caboose
 | The third painting of the day in the paint-a-thon. At noon the win picked up and started playing havic with my acrylic paints, skimming over. |
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St. Vrain Valley and Long's Peak
 | Sunrise over St. Vrain Valley and storms brewing along the continental divide. |
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West Horsetooth, unfinished
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Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO
 | The red roof and white lap siding of the historic Stanley Hotel made for a nice composition. Conor and Rachael are the two small figures in the foreground sitting on the low wall. |
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Alex Welch
 | Alex Welch was a young man who I coached in soccer in his seventh and eighth grades. He was always a joy to coach, always attentive and willing to make the extra effort to learn. I always had him as my starting center midfielder. He was always so focused and excellent at distributing the ball to his teammates. At 22 years old he contracted an aggressive form of spinal meningitis and he passed away much too soon for such a great young talented man.
The flock of doves represent Christ’s apostles whom have come to see how beautifully he played soccer as a young man |
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Poudre River, Laporte, CO
 | My first time using Golden Open Acrylics. Hot breezy day but the paint stayed moist and it did not skin over. The one draw back is the consistency is not heavy so it is hard to get textures. What I get in moisture longevity I loose in texture. |
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Branded Sheep, Ireland
 | I painted this from a photograph, as much as I asked the sheep to pose he wouldn't cooperate. I tried to paint the hills and sky with the vivid colors that I remembered. The sheep in Ireland are so colorful, the farmer dabs paint on his flock to identify them from the others in the open grassy fields. |
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Dunmore East, Ireland
 | The little village of Dunmore has a beautiful cove that was used by a family fishermen. It was also where brothers of my Mother-in-Law learned to swim. Just another wonderful Irish site for me to paint. |
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Ferry Bank, Ireland
 | I was able to paint this beautiful scene from the attic window of cousin Bill's house. I'm looking across the River Soure to a quaint farm scene on the Ferrybank side. This is the little village that my Mother-in-Law and her four brothers were raised. |
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Heather Hills of Ireland
 | I could not beleive the abundence of color on this small hill in Northern Ireland. And I thought that there were only forty shades of green in Ireland. I love the patch work of color. |
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Manahn Fields, Ireland
 | I orginally painted this scene in 1993 in watercolor, I waited fifteen years to paint it again in acrylics. The track to the once popular outlook was over grown and I stood in grass about 4 feet deep. The day was a wild windy day and bright sunlight for Ireland. |
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Red Sierra, Denver Art Museum
 | Acrylic painting from the sculpture deck at the Denver Art Museum. It was a hot day but I had a place in the shade so the paint was pretty cooperative. I was glad to be painting with acrylics, it served as good practice for a September trip to Ireland where I used only acrylics. I can say that this painting was shown in the Denver Art Museum. As I was being escorted out of the Museum I had the painting clipped in my French Easel facing outward so as I was walking through the museum everyone could see my painting.
This painting was juried into the Denver Plein Air show that was shown in the central Denver Library. |
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St. John's Castle, Carlingford, Ireland
 | A beautiful day for painting in Ireland, no rain! I wanted to show the ancient rock walls of the castle beside the crisp white washed homes of the village. I really like the final result. I even tried showing the turf smoke rising from a chimney |
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Broomfield Days
 | I painted this from a watercolor that I had previously painted during "Broomfield Days". This is the first thing that my kids would see when they headed over to our town's annual Autumn Community gathering. The white vendor tents lined up along Midway Blvd. we're lite up by the early morning sun rise. I hoped to repeat the same shapes in the white peaks of the purple mountain's majesty |
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Valmont Butte, Valmont Plant
 | I was inspired to paint this location when I saw a painting done in the early 1900 from this very place. At that time Boulder was changing from a mining supply town to a farming community. Valmont Power Plant seen between the lake and the mountains was built in 1911. After more than 100 years of serving electric power to the community of Boulder it is closing down due to the clean air act. Please note in this painting the tall brown smoke stacks and smoke. |
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Sun Flowers and Umbrella
 | My first plein-aire figure painting, painted on the street in front of the Sack's Art gallery. I had two enties in the "Colorado Plein-aire Painters Show", in this gallery at Cherry Creek, Denver, Colorado. I really like the impreesion of the people on the street in the back ground. |
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Royal Arch, Boulder Mountain Parks
 | Painted on the Summer Solstace with the sun light at its further most Northern aspect. I choose this day to paint the North side of the royal arch as I wanted as much light on the rock face as possible. There were maybe 100 hikers walking up to the arch on that beautiful day but I asked one couple hugging to hold their pose for a few moments more so I could capture their embrace. |
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Dinasaur Rocks
 | This is a beautiful group of rocks that are on the route to Mallory cave. It reminded me of the Japanese ink wash paintings that captures the depth of the foreground and the heights of the peaks. This was a beautiful day with high cloud cover that didn't affect the shadows. This was painted all on-site in one long day. |
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Marshall Dogwoods
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Red Rocks, Morrison, Colorado
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Rocky Mountain, Forest
 | Painted just inside the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park |
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Henderson Rocks, Gunnison Co
 | An interesting rock formation outside of Gunnison, Colo. The red rocks have a similar texture to the slick rocks that are found in Moab, Utah. Henderson Rocks is an attraction for hiker, bikers and cross country skiers. I painted with Conor and his greyhound Ziggy.
I was painting with Conor and his dog Ziggy. |
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Cherry on top, Oldenburg
 | Painted at the Minnapolis Walker Museum Sculpture Garden. Monumental sculpture by Claus Oldenberg. Painted at the Minnapolis Walker Museum Sculpture Garden. Monumental sculpture by Claus Oldenberg. |
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Boulder Red Rocks
 | I spent on week's on vacation in Broomfield, limiting myself to locations that I could reach by bicycle.
These strange red rocks are off the Boulder Creek trail. |
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Overlook Trail, Broomfield
 | A beautiful summer day when the weather cooled and heavy rain clouds built up in the western foothills. I remember spending a lot of time trying to get the Cottonwood correct. |
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Ohio Creek, Gunnison
 | A beautiful spring day painting with Conor in the Ohio Creek Basin outside of Gunnison I felt I was very successful getting the color right on the ridges as they move back to the mountain. I also got the white aspen trunks and the new budding growth on right. A real successful small study. |
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Experimental Forest
 | Painted in the Experimental Forest just outside of Winter Park, Colorado. In just a few years after I painter this beautiful scene the forest had been destroyed by pine beetles. You can start to see the forest turning a hue of red.
This was painted with acrylic on watercolor paper. |
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Eldorado Springs, Sunset
 | I really love this little painting, the way the setting sun catches the rythmn of the dips and rises of the land that leads up to the forested foothills and the verticle red stone rocks. |
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Morrison Mountain in Winter Light
 | This was painted on a dry winter afternoon with my son Keith. We had a few free hours and I took him to mu favorite painting motif. The Naple yellow hillside of the dry grasses contrasted well with the cool shadows cast by the southern apex of the sun. |
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Grandby, Colorado, Forest
 | A little acrylic that I did With Cathy. The dirty green and red is the forest dying from Pine Beetle destruction. A year later the color of the forest is a red burnt sienna. |
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Fritz on the Rocks
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