Gayle Crites

Working from life out-of-doors is challenging due to weather influences…wind, cold, insect attacks and sun exposure! Nevertheless, a plein aire work produced on an outdoor easel has a rhythm of brush strokes, color harmonized by the natural environment and a sense of artistic exploration. Field studies become exercises in observation from which an artist learns. The calligraphy of the artist’s paint strokes reveals a spontaneous response to the rapid changing light, the unexpected ripples formed in a placid lake and the wonder of a wild animal passing through the scene. Working in the natural environment of unpredictable conditions can sometimes bring qualities of freshness, projected excitement and personal discovery.

The following quote from Aldo Leopold’s, A Sand County Almanac, references the preciousness of nature and its resources….the source of inspiration.
“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher “standard of living” is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free.”
Golden, Colorado’s art gallery, Spirits in the Wind, shares an aesthetic that is a wonderful fit for my paintings. I’m proud to have recently joined its list of represented artists.

I was fortunate to have been born in Denver and to have known a group of talented painters during the late 1960’s and 70’s. Through their encouragement and introductions, I began to exhibit with them in historic Larimer Square before finishing my art degree (BA) at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, in 1971. Since that early start, my work has been represented in galleries and museums in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Fe and many others along the way. I’m grateful for that early start, and the “work-from-life” discipline I learned from the Denver School mentors.