Plein air watercolor landscape painting of mountains, lake and fields in Montana

Plein air watercolor painting    6 inches x 9 inches

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a road leading to a Montana ranch

Plein air Watercolor painting 15 inches x 5.5 inches

Sometimes an extreme horizontal format is the best way to capture the feeling of a location, especially if you want to create a panorama effect. This Montana watercolor landscape was painted in July when the fields had already turned to gold, but before everything has greyed down and lost its vibrancy.

Pastel landscape painting of an old homestead in Montana

Pastel painting 14 inches x 18 inches

I never brought my pastels with me when we traveled out west. At the time, I was new to the medium and I just couldn’t get my mind around carting all the dusty supplies and actually making pastel paintings on site. Plus, protecting the resulting art seemed difficult.

I’ve come a long way since then. But I still shoot hundreds of research photos wherever I travel for inspiration during the winter months when I paint in my studio. This pastel landscape shows another very special little homestead that we often visited on our horseback riding adventures. We would rest our horses and peer into the open windows of the cabins, imagining what it must have been like to live there in the late 1800s. This piece was all about composition and color for me. The spring grass in Montana after a snowy winter is an unbelievable shade of green!

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a distant ranch from the fields.

Plein air Watercolor painting 15 inches x 5.5 inches

This piece was painted sitting in the exact same position as the last watercolor landscape I posted. I expanded my view and worked in an extreme horizontal instead of vertical format. Its nice when you find a plein air spot that offers various interesting views. Sometimes I work on 2 or 3 paintings at a time, letting one dry while I start in on another. The golden fields that September excited me and I wanted to try to capture them in a couple of different ways.

Plein air watercolor landscape of ranch land in Montana

Plein air Watercolor painting 5.5 inches x 15.5 inches

When I visit new places, it helps me to jump outside my usual style and techniques. The countryside in Montana pushed me to work in different compositions and sizes. In this watercolor landscape I wanted to capture some of the enormity of the landscape, but from a close-up and personal viewpoint. I sat near one of the trout streams and looked out toward the distant mountains.

Watercolor landscape painting of an old homestead in Montana.

Watercolor painting  13.5 inches x 9.5 inches

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a lake in Montana

Plein air Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches

This plein air watercolor landscape was painted in Beaverhead County, one of the largest counties in the United States, but with only 9,000 population. The gorgeous mountains seem to be in the distance no matter what view you take.

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a road and fields on a Montana ranch.

Watercolor painting 15 inches x 5.5 inches $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

I painted this plein air watercolor landscape when I was out west visiting my sister. She worked as a marketing director on the coolest ranch in southwest Montana. They raised and trained high-end quarter horses for sale. The ranch was stunningly beautiful and I painted alot out there for a few summers. You can see some of my other paintings from that time here.

But Beth has moved on and started a new business. She and our other sister, Lynn, now create and sell beautiful personalized jewelry in platinum, gold, silver and other metals. If you are in the market for a truly special piece of fine jewelry, checkout Sorella Jewelry Studio.

Pastel Painting of winding River in Montana

Pastel painting 4.5 inches x 7 inches $80

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This little pastel landscape is a flash from the past for me. For 4 or 5 summers in a row, I traveled to Montana to ride horses like a crazy woman with my sister Beth. The views are absolutely astounding,  and looks very much like it must have centuries ago. I fell in love with the countryside and did a lot of pastel and watercolor paintings of the area.

My sister loved Montana so much that she moved there as marketing director of a international quarter horse outfit. She subsequently created the best western saddle website in the world. check it out!

Watercolor painting 7 inches x 10 inches $200 + shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

This is the view from our window in Waikola. Clouds would roll in off the mountains and then there would be a sparkling break of pure sunshine that lit everything up in a surreal way. The light and atmosphere was unlike anywhere I have been before. It made the gorgeous island landscapes sparkle!

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6. inches $100 + shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

Every single view near Yellowstone takes your breath away. As we drove the roads winding through the mountains, I was constantly screaming at my sister Beth, “Stop here!  No, wait, here!” She was so accomodating. She’d calmy park the car, get out her little chair and settle down with a book while I frantically tried to capture the beauty all around us. I captured this landscape scene just as dark rolling clouds started creeping up the ravine…

Pastel painting 5 inches x 7 inches $100 + shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

My sister Beth has just moved back to Michigan after living in Montana for 4 years. I loved to go out to visit her every year and ride horses like a wild woman and paint to my heart’s content. It truly is one of the most beautiful places on earth. This is a pastel painting from one those trips to scenic Beaverhead County.

This one’s for you Bessie…Welcome Back!

ps. if you are interested in a fantastic saddle site, check out www.westernsaddleguide.com and if you love personalized jewelry try www.sorellajewelry.com. These are 2 of Beth’s sites and they are both fantastic!