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Writer's pictureShanae Lavelle

Carson City--The Quadrilogy. Aug. 21, 2024.

Since 2021, I have been traveling to Carson City, Nevada for an annual event known as Watercolor Carson City. This event and the wonderful people involved with it have been instrumental in my growth as a watercolor plein air painter and have shown me unprecedented kindness and welcome. I have the previous years' blog posts available if you are really that interested in understanding this journey and relationship to such a relatively uncelebrated place.


Each year, I have been welcomed by the watercolor painting community and the associated sponsors of the event. Even before meeting, I had been in contact with the event's champion, Colleen Reynolds. She has been pioneering, organizing, and developing the Watercolor Carson City event for four years. Extra bonus points from me because she is the closest thing I will ever have to a mentor in watercolor painting. If you need more evidence of her awesomeness, she's a veteran, a community-minded artist who specializes in working with older adults, an award-winning watercolorist, and childless cat lady so if that sounds interesting to you, please check out her site.


Past years have seen this event transition from being partially focused on studio paintings to becoming entirely plein air, which was Colleen's dream from the beginning. This year she did it! Previous years included big-name jurors and demonstrators such as Keiko Tanabe, Tom Howard, and Kristi Grussendorf. This year was little different, as regular folks will determine the prize winners in a few different categories: People's Choice, best panoramic scene, best story or narrative, best close-up, and best urban scene.


I usually pride myself on being able to travel very light and cost efficiently, but for the first time since going to Spain (10+ years ago), I had to check a bag with all my art supplies. My flight arrived in the late evening hours to Reno and after gleefully getting my car rental a few hours early, I settled into a cheap but not the cheapest hotel I could find. The next morning, I went to Colleen's studio to get my paper stamped and greet the many painters I have had the pleasure of knowing over the years. I can't possibly make a trip without going to my favorite grocery store, Grocery Outlet. I could write a whole blog post on why I love this store, but I will spare you dear reader. Just know we don't have these in the Midwest and it's a big deal that I could access their snacks!



Next, I checked in with the hostess with the most-est, Betty. She has been providing me a room for these events three of the four years free of charge. She welcomed me into her home without knowing me and always offering wonderful conversations about her life. Betty and her husband recently adopted a high-energy Corgi Heeler mix, Pixie, and we got to know each other and I dropped off some of my stuff.



After getting some time with a wet nose and many pets with the little Pixie, I was off to meet Annette (another painter) at Washoe Lake. There we chatted and she told me about the history of horses nearby. I thought they were wild horses but I and learned that the proper term is in fact, feral. These horses come from a long line of horses that were bred to be pack horses in WWII, and when the war was over they were released into the wild, but they were once domesticated. She gave me some fascinating history about these creatures and their history within the state and their impact on the environment, which it turns out isn't always great. As I was getting myself set up, I realized I left all but one brush at Betty's house but I didn't want that to stop me. A few horses started coming close to the area I was in, so I pulled out my phone for a quick video. This is kind of a long watch, but close to the end a foal gets zoomies and bumps into my plein air box! They then proceeded towards Annette who made herself very big with her arms as they ran around her in a stampede style run.



I painted a lot, and none of it was very good and I only had the one brush. I was having a really tough time getting used to how hot and dry the environment was and I could not seem to preserve my whites worth a damn. I struggled against some regularly scheduled afternoon winds and my jet lag. Luckily, Colleen had a demonstration the first evening, which really helped me get some ideas of what to do differently and do better.


Some of the notes I took from Colleen:

"Don't let your colors be lonesome."

"The less you touch your paper with the brush the better the painting will be"

Do the background first to warm up.

To make something look like it's turning, change the temperature of the paint.


As she made her way around the sunflowers, a lot of things started to click in place but I wasn't entirely sure where that place would be for me. The demo was very inspiring for the other painters and several folks felt energized and excited about going out the next day--myself included.


The next day I tried Washoe lake again, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. Annette, on the other hand really hit her stride with a half sheet (15x22") painting on paper and two others on Yupo. Her big half sheet was coming along great, but she finished a quick dragonfly piece. We certified each other's paintings anyway, because I needed to have something to turn in if all else failed. Hilariously, neither of these pieces got submitted in the end but we can call them warm-ups.



I had scoped out an area near King's Canyon Waterfall hiking area, facing towards the east and way from the waterfall itself. In past years I painted the waterfall but really found the sweeping mountain ranges nearby to be calling to me this year. I hiked a bit and found what I assume to be a pet memorial or grave. The name featured, Nickel, was something I felt was somewhat good for the narrative category and the sun. I began thinking of all my pets who have left this world and it was cathartic to get in a good cry. I reflected upon doggies, kitties, birds, and what a gift it is to have those critters in our lives. For many children, they learn about death first through losing a pet. Who among us hasn't lost a furry family member and had it just wreck our world in ways that humans don't? Nickel was special to Keith and Amber, who's names adorn the horizonal portion of the cross. I assume they were the ones who placed a metal lawn flower and some fake flowers on a haphazard stack of wood to memorialize Nickel. I decided to call it "To Let Sleeping Dogs Lie."


This space I had a feeling would be something of an incredible sight if I were to catch it at sunrise, but Thursday was coming to a close. The following day, I did just that and was not disappointed. However, by agreeing to help Colleen in the mornings between 7 and 9, I needed to make a quick study of the scene in order to meet the rules of the competition, which is to not use photo references. I jotted this down in about 10 minutes and had to run with the intention to come back and use my stamped papers for the competition.


Upon my return, the scene had changed dramatically but I could rely on my study to help me muddle through. I thought of different ways I could go about capturing the scene and decided to try something a little unorthodox, which was to submit two paintings that were an extension of one another, similar to how the sketchbook worked. After a few hours, I felt like the sketch was better than the finished pieces, but I was still happy enough with them to prepare for submissions. While out there, I saw lizards, families of quail, several birds of prey, and met hikers and cyclists who stopped to say hello. One man was a photographer and another was a Packers fan while a nice lady from out of town had experience using acrylics and enjoyed discussing her techniques. It was nice to have some visitors and chat with them in between painting and putting on more sunscreen. I can tell you folks, that hot sun and afternoon wind mixing with the sunscreen left me covered in a film of dust.


There was an artist's social gathering on Friday night at Piazza, a wonderful local restaurant that has sponsored this event since it's beginnings in 2021. The artists all chatted and compared our experiences with one another while struggling with our paints and environments. One painter from Arizona I met last year returned and another came from Costa Rica! It was a calm evening, or so I thought, and I went to Betty's to call it a night and binged a few episodes of the long-recommended Downton Abbey (thanks Bestie). Seriously, like 3 episodes in one night.


Saturday morning I got up at sunrise once again, back to the King's Canyon overlook where I had painted the day before. I don't know what I was hoping for, but I found a few friends; a doe and a small buck approached me. The doe stayed calm and hung around long enough for me to get sketch of her. The little buck's fuzzy heart-shaped horns followed shortly after the doe left. He was much more spooky, staring me down and eventually running away. During a time-lapse of the sunrise you can just make out the buck in the bottom right corner.



I did my best to capture them in a painting with the hopes of being able to replace one of the other submissions, but the paper was too wet, it was too cold, and it just wasn't a strong painting. I knew I would just have to be happy enough with the chance to have these encounters, even if they don't result in good paintings.


Plus, there was so many baby quail!



I packed everything up because it was the final day for preparing paintings for submission. I matted three paintings I was reasonably happy with and made my submissions. I assisted Colleen with check-in, collecting paperwork and numbering each piece for the silent auction. This process took a few hours, but unfortunately, Colleen was not feeling well. She donned an N95 just to be safe because she didn't want to get anyone else sick. We got through the submissions and prepared them for viewing and voting. It was during that time that one of the artists from the night before told us at the social, her purse was stolen!


Carson City isn't without it's problems, despite my love for it. There is crime, poverty, addiction, and many other vices that exist in this city, like any other. Nevada tends to draw in people's vices for exploitation, but there is regulation for most of it. I love to play roulette and there is one machine available at the Carson Nugget that I frequent on my visits to Carson. Every year I see the working girls doing their thing, listen to drunk and mentally unstable folks discuss politics, and watch people give in to the infernal slot machines. It's not all bad, though. Usually, I talk to many folks and almost always meet someone from Wisconsin. This time, someone from Oconomowoc. Saturday afternoon, while hanging out in a nearby park, a wallet was found by my Pop who had come to town to visit. We called the local law enforcement and brought the wallet to them. Dispatchers contacted the woman right away and she met us in the parking lot, thankful. She said she didn't even know it was missing but she had taken her kids to the park that afternoon. It was cool to see something of the system work like it's supposed to without having to see someone suffer through paperwork. I sketched some quick images of these scenes to help share in the experience.



Sunday morning I got a phone call from Colleen. Her illness had been bumped up a notch and she now had tested positive for Covid. Her big event was now going to be left for me, Annette, and a few others who have volunteered before. In past years, I have always helped with the panels and hanging of the finished work, loading in and out of the event space, and so on. But this would also include being the Emcee of the event--and I was not entirely sure how I could do that when Colleen is usually so polished and funny. We put our heads together and started doing our best to make the event happen without Colleen. Somehow we managed to pull it off, and I appreciate the patience of everyone throughout the event. I didn't take any photos and I didn't have hardly a chance to eat or drink. It helped me understand just how hard it must have been the last three years for Colleen to do so much. She was missed terribly, but the show must go on. I made sure to speak of the privileges' that we artists enjoyed by having the opportunity to participate and support Capital City Circles, a local non-profit that provides peer-support to help folks with addiction and assistance to rise out of poverty. I can't tell you, reader, how moving it has been each year to have folks come and provide testimonials and share in their journey. I whole-heartedly believe in this group and what they offer and it's been a joy and privilege to raise money for them each year.


Many wonderful paintings had been recognized and won awards, it was so cool to see people's excitement and share in their moments of celebration. Some winners donated their entire winnings to Capital City Circles. I bought one painting from Susan Iwata, a wonderful close up of some turquoise rocks found in the walls of the Stewart Indian School. It means so much to me that she gave me a chance to buy this piece. It's heartbreaking that "Indian Schools" taught indigenous peoples that their own culture was wrong and provided them with the values and structure of a white, Christian-based value system. Susan captured these rocks in the wall of the school, providing a story through the individualism of each stone, beautiful and resilient, placed together to make up a part of an institution developed to steal people's identities. If I get Susan's permission to share the painting, I will add it at a later time. You can check out her oil and palette knife work here: https://nevadaartists.org/susan-iwata/


All three of my pieces sold, and I walked away with the Best Panoramic Scene ribbon. I can add photos later if I get some, but you'll have to take my word for it.



Ultimately, it was yet another amazing year in Carson City and I had the distinct pleasure of sharing it in a new and much more involved way. I have so many wonderful people in my life who have provided opportunities, kindness, and understanding and who have helped make space for me. A huge thanks to everyone that helped make this journey possible for a fourth year. It's been a great journey and I'm sad to say this was likely to be the last Watercolor Carson City. If it continues, it will likely be out of Colleen's hands but... who knows. It's worth noting that on the return trip, while sleeping in airports and such, one of those bags was filled with goodies from Grocery Outlet. Think they would sponsor me? All jokes aside, if you made it this far, thanks for reading and thanks for being part of the journey with me.

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