Just a Little Place in the Country

Stately pines surround this nice little homestead nestled along the foothills.  The sun is setting as the sky clears after the spring rain.  The birds are chirping and all is well.

"Just a Little Place in the Country"
8"x10" |  Oil on linen mounted to board
SOLD

Spring Break Snow Day

March brings wild weather to Colorado...sunny and 70 degrees one day and snowy and freezing the very next!  A major storm came through yesterday dropping 8-10" of fluffy power snow.

I've had my eye on this fantastic barn to paint for a few years now...only problem is that it stands in the middle of a golf course, making it impossible to paint on site.  So, with the snow storm closing the course I packed up my gear, hiked out onto the course and painted the barn in the middle of the snowstorm.

"Silent Snowfall"
9"x12"  Oil on linen mounted to panel
SOLD

As always, your "likes" and comments are greatly appreciated!!

Brrrr

A little 5"x7" painted along side my car as the sun went down on a freezing cold day.

The Bee Keeper

The Bee Keeper by Scott Ruthven
5"x7" Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD

Here's another piece in my small, plein air barns series.  The setting sun moved quickly tonight but I was able to mass in the darks and place a few warm lights in quickly so as to capture the effect.

Cool Drink

"Cool Drink" by Scott Ruthven
5"x7" Oil on panel

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I painted this on site last evening as the sun was going down.  These horses have a nice pasture with a stream and sure seemed to enjoy it.

Old Man Johnson's Farm

"Old Man Johnson's Farm" by Scott Ruthven
5x7" Oil painted en plein air

Here's a plein air oil painting study I did of a local barn.  For me, barns represent the hard-working past generations of people that grew food on a small scale for themselves and their communities.  Of course farming is alive and well, but the industry has evolved to big business now.  I  like to capture the personalities of these old structures before our towns overtake them.

Unfortunately, some construction trailers have recently been placed on this property which is usually the first step to tear-down and development.  I'll need to capture a few more portraits of it soon.

If you like my work and blog, please click on the Facebook "Like" and "Share" buttons below so your Facebook friends can come and check it out too.  Thanks, I appreciate it.

Scott

Winter's Warmth - Framed and Ready To Ship.

Winter's Warmth 5x7" Oil on canvas board - Scott Ruthven

Well, it's Sunday and I didn't paint at all yesterday so I better get on it!  However, I did get this piece framed and thought I would show you the final product.  Since the painting is only 5x7" I decided to float it in a 6x8" frame.  This simply means that I mounted it first to a 6x8" panel painted black and then placed that into the frame.  The black panel provides a nice border between the painting and the frame and none of the painting is hidden behind the frame edges.

This ships to a collector in Oregon Monday but I hung it in my dining room for the weekend to enjoy!

Frozen Brushstrokes

"Winter's Warmth" by Scott Ruthven 5"x7" Oil on Linen Panel - Painted En Plein Air

As we approach Thanksgiving here in the USA I'm thinking about all the gifts in my life.  One thing I'm so thankful for is the time I get to spend outdoors painting.  This barn really called out to me.  The air was crisp and cold but the sun made the red barn and the golden willow tree just radiate.

Photo by Scott Ruthven

This barn is set back quite a distance from the road.  With the snow coming up over my boots, I was sure happy I didn't forget anything back at the car.

Even though the temperature was quite cold, I never even thought about it while I was painting.  Painting is a wonderful meditation.

p.s.  When painting on site you can see into and paint the shadows in a scene like this.  A camera simply can't accurately portray both the bright lights from the snow and the delicate colors in the shadows when the contrast is so great.

Scott