It has come to my attention that for reasons lost in the cosmic cyberspace trash pile, the post announcing my participation in the Dennis Weaver Memorial Park 2nd Annual Plein Air paint out didn’t appear in the intergalactic cyber waves of the internet traffic system. In other words…for reasons unknown it didn’t post. Included in that information was an announcement about the First Friday Art Stroll during which I featured a showing of my fall color paintings. That occured this past Friday evening. Oh well. Such is life.

The Dennis Weaver Annual Plein Air paint out was established last year. The Weaver Family, through the Weaver Foundation purchases the selected painting and donates it to the Town of Ridgway in memory of Dennis Weaver. The Weaver family home overlooks the town of Ridgway which is set against a dramatic backdrop of the San Juan Mountains.

In 2007, a memorial park was established in memory of Dennis Weaver. It is here that we invited artists painted yesterday. I will say it is a very peaceful and beautiful place on the Uncompahgre River. A giant bronze sculpture of an eagle by Vic Payne is featured. Eagles held a special place in Dennis’s heart.

It is quite impressive. The little piles of rocks are “prayer” stones that people have placed around the bronze and on borders of trails in the park. These delicately balanced little monuments are prayers offered in memory for someone. The park has a certain spiritual quality to it.

Although the heads up post regarding this day is unaccounted for, the good news is that I got a pretty nice painting done. Although it wasn’t selected by the committee, I was quite happy with the results and am confident that someone else will take advantage of the availability of the painting.  Here is a photo of my efforts:

I’d like to thank Rick Weaver, son of Dennis Weaver, for personally inviting me to participate in this event. I was honored and enjoyed it very much. Thanks Rick.