A painting journal of events........

September 2011: I once again participated in the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, and was very honored to receive the "Best of Show" award for my studio piece, November Morning Below Nankoweap. It rained about 2 inches during the 6 days of the Paint-Out, which made for very challenging conditions and some close calls with lightning on the rim. But I was able to finish 13 small on-location pieces which are showing in the Kolb Studios at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon until the end of November.
	June 2011: I was chosen as one of 20 artists in the first Boulder County Open Space Plein Air event. We artists were allowed access to closed Open Space properties for 2 weeks to create 4 paintings each for display at the Old Firehouse Art Center in Longmont. I was honored to receive the Honorable Mention Award for "Sunrise East from Gunbarrel Hill."
Spring 2011: Plein Air Magazine featured me in a 5 page article in their spring issue. To read the entire article, follow this link: http://elizabethblackart.com/PleinAir_Black_pxx-xx%20%282%29.pdf
	December 2010: I was named an "Artist to Watch" by Southwest Art. To read the entire article, follow this link: http://www.southwestart.com/articles-interviews/emerging-artists/emerging-artist-elizabeth-black
November 2010: Chris and I are having a joint show of Grand Canyon work at Mary Williams Fine Arts, from November 18th to December 15th. Chris is showing photographs from his new book, Path of Beauty, and I am showing 17 brand new Canyon paintings. (You can preview my work in the show here.) Mary Williams will also be showing some of her extensive collection of antique Grand Canyon prints, including chromolithographs by Thomas Moran and a complete copy of Dutton's Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon! We hope you can make it to the opening reception Friday November 19th from 5-8PM.
	November 2010: This year is our GRAND OPENING for the Christmas tree farm! Our Scotch Pines are finally big enough to cut. We have been scurrying around getting the farm ready for all the visitors to come. Opening day is December 3rd. To find out more about our Christmas Tree Farm go to http://www.neighborhoodchristmastreefarm.com/. This year we will have U-cut Scotch Pines, pre-cut Balsam, Fraser and Grand Firs, as well as our usual assortment of Christmas wreaths. Come on by if you are in the neighborhood!
September 2010: The day after we took out at Diamond Creek, I drove up to the South Rim to participate in the Second Annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art. This wonderful event includes a six-day-Paint-Out and a two-hour-Quick-Draw. All the participating artists are pictured to the right. (I am #7 from the front.) We all got our canvases stamped on day one, and then headed out across the rim to create as many great paintings as we could over the next 6 days. I bagged 7 good ones, which all sold by the end of the opening. I was also very honored to receive the North Kaibab Second Place Award for my paintings.
Painting from the raft at Lee's Ferry, photo by Hugh Newton The painting I did at Lee's Ferry, collection of Walt Garms	August 2010: Chris and I embarked on our second honeymoon trip down the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. We had done another one-boat two-person trip back in 1986, and decided to do it again while we still could! We had slightly different equipment this time though: an 18 foot self-bailer instead of a leaky Shoshone; oil paints instead of watercolors; and Chris had a digital camera instead of his Baby Deardorff. We were less agile and energetic than we were 25 years ago, and the rapids were a little more intimidating. But we had the good fortune to hook up with Nat and Sarah Cobb's trip, and were able to run many of the largest rapids with them. It was wonderful to be back in the canyon, alive and wild in the heart of it! And we both got some wonderful art and source material from the trip, enough to keep me painting new views of the Canyon for years to come.
February 2010 :I painted this for Boulder's 23rd MahlerFest. It is inspired by Mahler's Symphony No. 3, and will be used for MahlerFest publicity and fundraising. Posters and giclée prints on paper and canvas of this image are available for sale. When I learned that Mahler was a great fan of hiking in the mountains, I imagined that, had he come to Boulder, he would have wanted to explore the Indian Peaks and Arapahoe Glacier. I used source photos of the glacier 100 years ago, of Mahler hiking in the Alps, and my own photos of Rocky Mountain wildflowers to design this painting.
	November 2009 :My painting, "Comanche Point, Grand Canyon" was chosen to travel to the U. S Embassy in South Africa, as part of the Art in Embassies Program of the U. S. State Department. It will be there for 3 years.
September 2009 :My painting, "Morning Traffic, Phantom Ranch" received a $2500 prize at the Modern Masters Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, and was purchased by the Grand Canyon Squire Inn, for their dining room. All 6 paintings I produced during the Paint-out were rapidly snapped up on opening night. This was a very productive and gratifying trip!
Canyon Worship, Beside the Still Waters Oil and gold leaf on panel, 2009 63" wide x 54" tall	September 2009 :I participated in the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. In addition to being in the Paint-Out, I was also in the Modern Masters show at Kolb Studios. I created this piece called "Canyon Worship"especially for the show. It is about how boatmen take folks to special places in the Canyon, to worship. Based on medieval altar pieces, this piece addresses the way that even secular environmentalists have a primal need to worship something grand. We just do it in different ways. The figures are all folks I have worked with, and include (from top, left to right) Drifter Smith, Sharon Hester, Jimbo Tichenor, Suzanne Jordan, Chris Brown, me, Martha Clark, Wesley Smith, and on the back, Becca Lawton and Moley Haymond.
Front view with wings closed	Back side
August 2009 :I participated in Mary William's First Annual Quick-Draw. This was the first time I had done anything like this, and it was really nerve-wracking! I was lucky to have Chris Brown with me. He fielded questions, which allowed me to paint uninterrupted for the 2 hours I had to create the piece.
May 2009: I produced a major exhibit about Boulder's irrigation ditches for the town's Sesquicentennial. You can view most of the information that was in the exhibit, including maps, history, rephotography, art and natural history at www.DitchProject.org. Enjoy! Click here to enter
November 2008 :Mary Williams Gallery, on Pearl Street is showing 21 new paintings of mine. The opening reception is Thursday November 13th. I hope that you can make it by 2116 Pearl St (east Pearl near 21st St on the south side of the road) from 5-8PM.
	July 2008 : We went out to Echo Lake again this summer and actually had a vacation (no work on the cabin!) I had a wonderful time painting a series of Sierra Juniper portraits and sitting on the dock in the sun.
February 2008 : Chris and I hiked down to Phantom Ranch and spent a week painting and photographing down in the big ditch. We got some really great source material and were able to see the flood releases bring tons of plastic and styrofoam down the river. Chris also met a New York book editor who is interested in publishing a book of his Canyon photographs. It was a really great trip!	Flood Release at Pipe Creek
	December 2007 :Mary Williams Gallery, on Pearl Street in Boulder Colorado is showing miniatures by 31 different artists. Both Chris and I have several pieces in this show. I have some small oils, and water details in watercolor. Chris is showing his new black and white work. Come on by if you are looking for some affordable art.
November 2007 :Blue Heron Gallery, on Main Street in Ashland Oregon, (right on Lithia Square) is now representing my work. They have 6 of my Rogue paintings, as well as a nice selection of Giclee prints and notecards.	Blue Heron Gallery & Gifts 90 N. Main Street Ashland, OR 97520 phone (541) 482-7762
	October 2007 :In addition to the show in Oregon, Chris and I are participating in Open Studios again this year. I will have lots of new small paintings of Boulder County.
October 2007 :I will be showing new paintings of the Rogue River at the Firehouse Gallery in downtown Grants Pass, Oregon. The show opens Friday October 5th. I'll see you there if you can make it to the opening!
	June 2007: I completed a large commission for a client who wanted a special painting for her kitchen, of Boulder Creek.
My studio and baby Christmas Trees in the snow.	December 2006: We sold Christmas wreaths this year, as the Christmas trees we are growing are still too small to market. The 95 inches of snow we have had this season has covered up the baby trees, which they really like. Christopher and Tiger
November 2006: I had several really fun commissions for folks who wanted special Christmas presents for their loved ones. Here is one of my favorites.	Polly's Commission
October-November, 2006: I was lucky enough to be invited on Jeni Sue's Grand Canyon river trip. I hopped into a boat at Pipe Creek, and rowed the lower half, taking my paints down the river with me. Along with some great painting time and reconnecting with friends, I got to swim the left side of Bedrock. Not recommended!
	September-October, 2006: I spent our gorgeous fall going out and painting on-location around the county, to have lots of small inexpensive work for sale during Open Studios. Open Studios is always the first two weekends in October, and this year we had about 600 visitors to our studios.
July 2006: Chris and I were able to spend another couple of weeks up at Echo Lake this summer, doing only minimal construction. I was able to paint almost every day on location around the lake, and came home with several commissions of neighboring cabins which I completed this fall.
Andrea's Commission	Picard Cabin
Spring 2006: Cha Cha and I organized and produced the Eccentric Artists Gardens Exhibit and Tour. The Eccentric Artists consist of 39 Boulder County painters, sculptors and gardeners who produce a biennial event:  The Eccentric Artists’ Garden Exhibit and Tour. The painters and sculptors in our group created new work for the Exhibit, inspired by the 14 artists’ gardens which the public could visit during the Tour. Since I was an exhibiting painter in the Show, a participating gardener in the Tour, as well as the event organizer, it was a very busy spring. The painting to the right was in the show, and is titled "My True Companion", inspired by all the concrete work I did in the garden.
	January 2006: Leslie Kinder asked me to paint an image for the Boulder Backroads Marathon, to be used on posters promoting the event. Using her photos, I came up with this.