Robert LaRose was the winner in the Montrose Art Fair this year – with Grand Champion awarded for his watercolor painting “Dobies First Snow” (painting shown above).
“I was honored to learn I was named the Grand Champion of the Montrose County Art Fair this year for my watercolor entitled “Dobies First Snow.” I am a regular participant in the art fair in the advanced/professional category, watercolor subdivision. I have taken first and second place in that category for three years running, and the first three places before that, when three submissions were allowed. This year I raked in $30: $3 for first place in my division, $2 for second place and $25 for the Grand Championship!
The subjects are the Montrose ‘dobies, the gray cliffs south of Montrose visible along U.S. 550, as seen from my front yard. One morning in early November the first snowfall was beginning to melt where the sun had warmed the ‘dobies. That left the top edges of the cliffs outlined in white, offset by the orange-tinted melt-wetted soil and autumn foliage, and by deep blues of the shaded hillsides.
That was a WOW moment that I caught in a photo and made into a watercolor over weeks (and painstaking months) that followed. I set out to fill a frame that my wife brought home from Heirlooms, which has a pebbled texture that suggests the composition of the hills and contrasts with the vibrant colors. Despite their name, the hills pictured are not made of adobe, but rather tiny shards of silvery shale that reflect light in different colors depending upon the season and angle of the sun. I previously made a painting entitled “Orange Sunset” with orange sunset clouds floating overhead.
That work is now showing at the Coffee Trader (845 East Main Street) through MCA’s Art in Motion program that exhibits the works of local artists in business venues. “Dobies First Snow” will be on display at the Creamery in Hotchkiss during the month of September. I look forward to entering the Montrose County Fair Art Show each year. Three years ago MCA produced the show and I played a role in plans for the event, which included offering cash prizes totaling $700 and exhibiting the works of local artists for sale. We counted 360 submissions, which may be a record for the fair in recent history. Although the cash awards are usually modest, I urge all local artists to support the county fair art show, where they can view the works of amateur and student artists and shae their art with neighbors from across Montrose County.”
Bob LaRose is a retired communication professor pursuing a new avocation as a watercolor artist. He is an active member of the MCA Board and resides in Colorado.
