Don Sahli, Oil Painter

I don't have a picture of any new oil painting to show, but that's not going to keep me from showing you photos I took at the Vail Fine Art Gallery last week of works by an exciting thick oil painter, Don Sahli.

Autumn Glory by Don Sahli, oil 54" x 54", amateur photo by Jack Ekstrom, with apologies to the artist.
I hope it's ok to use my photo, which truly does not do justice to his painting. His paintings must be seen up close, they're absorbing presentations of vibrant colors, with extremely thick oils that are more alive than any I've seen. In one of the two Vail Fine Art Galleries, Alex, working in the gallery, showed us one of Sahli's large paintings under 6 controlled spotlights with variable luminosity, and the oranges, especially one extremely thick stroke that resembled tree foliage, had by far the most glow, when it was too dark to see the other colors.

Here's Judy with Richard Munoz between two of Sahli's paintings. We were all very taken by Sahli, whose works were on display with many astonishing oil landscapes by 20th century Russian impressionists. Don Sahli is known as the last apprentice to Russian master Sergei Bongart.

Here's Christine Tilson looking at Sahli's Autumn Glory, next to two other Sahli paintings including the triptych Elisabeth's Cathedral, 45" x 58", which is three deep oil panels with no frames. Those especially appeal to me in their presentation.

Plein Air Painting

Sahli lives near Denver, and paints plein air all over Colorado. Since I'm looking for new mountain scenes to paint, I'm especially drawn to his paintings. I must have mentioned to Rick how I started a number of my large oils outdoors in the plein air, which I thought were my best paintings, and I'd like to learn how to start them better than I started those. I never used a French plein air easel, I just hauled my large canvases in my truck or Judy's van, and the resultant outdoor experiences were like katzenjammer cartoons with the wind and furious thunderstorms.
While we were looking at Sahli's paintings, Rick found Sahli's website on his iphone and emailed it to me. When I got home Rick had learned that not only did Sahli live near Denver, but that he was offering painting classes through the Denver Art Students League. And Rick offered to give me a gift of Sahli's next class, which I very gratefully accepted.
So my news this post is that I'm enrolled in a class by Don Sahli: Late Fall Plein Air Painting, Nov. 3-4-5. I've already bought a new French easle, an Italian version of a full-sized Julian, and I've set it up in my basement and am gleefully dismantling my old oil table, to replace it with my easel which I can take anywhere!
I'll keep you more informed about my class.
Next Post: I've finally got photos of my Aug. 13 artshow.

St. Elmo is Sold

No, not the ghost town in the Colorado mountains above Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, but my diptych oil painting of East and West St. Elmo. This is my absolute last chance to show this on my blog (did I hear sighs of relief?), especially since I've vowed to start each post with a view of an oil painting (and I confess I have no new oils to show):


The Long Sale

I would have reported on my art show and this sale sooner, but I had to wait for the entire sale of St. Elmo to be completed, which it was only yesterday. Did you ever sell a picture that took over 3 weeks to conclude? Thank you to Dr. Joe and Barbara Vuillemin of Tucson, AZ, our summer neighbors, who bought East St. Elmo during my art show, Aug. 13 at the Old Colorado City History Center.
Barbara assured me that "I'll buy West St. Elmo next year, I can only buy one painting a year!" Then they went to St. Elmo and stayed overnight at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. They enjoyed it so much that Barbara had me bring West St. Elmo over and hang it on the wall in their master bedroom, along with East St. Elmo.
"This is our new St. Elmo room!" she exclaimed happily. "Look at how the colors of your oils come out!"
I'm headlining this post with this sale because I feel great, and am encouraged to paint more Colorado mountain paintings. I have many started and many more in my head.

Judy Wise's Comment

Judy Wise made a comment on my last post, about my art show: "And that HUGE painting (Holy Taos Mountain)- congratulations o fearless leader. You inspire me. I am curious if it is acrylic or oil and which you are loving the most right nnow. I keep thinking I will switch to oil but my impatient nature stays my hand."
Thanks Judy. It's an oil painting, I love oils most of all because of the deep, changing colors that literally are alive. I do still love acrylics and I start all my paintings with them, and finish in thick oils. You certainly do need patience waiting for the oil to dry, and I don't recommend thick oil painting to anyone who can't wait.
And I didn't receive any encouragement at all in my desire to paint two more parts to Holy Taos Mountain. At this point I'm not planning on continuing with those new paintings.

At Last My Report on my Art Show

I was hoping to show photos of my art show last month, but I've given up waiting on them. Time passes in an odd, slow way in Old Colorado City, because I only learned a few days ago how successful the show was. Everyone at the center is pleased with the money they made, and of course so am I.
I did sell one High Road painting, of San Jose de Gracia Church at Trampas. Thank you to Marni and Nate Kiser. At this time I'm not planning on painting any more High Road scenes.

Woe Begone

Because nothing moves very fast in Old Colorado City, I want to show this picture of Garrison Keiler which I took just last week, when we attended a Prairie Home Companion concert with Chris and Rick in the gorgeous surrounds of the Chatfield Botanic Gardens, near where we want to move in the next year (more about that):
Life here is like life in Lake Woebegon, laid-back, easy-going, folksy. And slow, very slow. I think I even look like Garrison, and I'm infected by his ambling pace and rambling story telling, which makes me think of life in Old Colorado City and the characters I met at Founders Day, the day after my art show. Here are a Victorian dancing couple:

Some people like to appear old, and yet young and stylish at the same time. There is a nostalgia for olden days:

And some people just like to appear old. These folks may not appear to be having fun, but they are, they're Victorian dancers and are trying to appear proper and distinguised.

It's fun to imagine what these folks may be, bankers, politicians, hat salesmen, teachers, singers, madams, merchants, gamblers, snake oil salesmen, they were all here in Old Colorado City's early days.

Our Big Move

And now we're going through a big change in our lives, which is one big reason I've been trying to move my paintings. We've decided to put our house up for sale and try to move to Littleton, in south Denver, much nearer our family. Our home is too big for us now. We've been planning this move for decades, and were just waiting for us to be retired.
All of my unsold paintings are now back in our home, and will help sell it. I will continue to produce art, in fact I have a commission now I am working on, and I will show my artwork on this blog as I get it done, and I'll certainly keep you up to date on our progress. Thank you for your patience.