73.  Original Plein Air Watercolor Painting, “Plein Air, 9-11:30am, Parade Crowd on W. Main St, 8.3.24”, watercolor, 24 x 36”, 2024

Location: Bozeman, MT

Event: Plein Air Montana

Event Awards: Bozeman Art Museum Purchase Prize

At the time this was made, it was a real stretch for me to tackle this kind of fluid complexity in a scene. All of this crowd was moving constantly, and flowing around me as I worked on the street, blocking my view almost completely at times (all I’d see were bodies). I had painted from this spot, including this same bicycle, the day before, winning the Bozeman Art Museum Purchase Prize with that piece. As this painting was for the Quick Draw, I was just repeating the effective strategy I’d used in Plein Air Easton, to paint the same quick draw scene the day before. While I do consider this painting effective for the time, it motivated me to tackle more complicated and populated visions in the future, like the winning painting for Two Rivers Plein Air in New Braunfels, Texas, two months later.