Ned Mueller Workshop 2018

​“The mountains are calling and I must go …”, and go I did, into the Beartooth Mountains here in Montana for a plein aire workshop with Ned Mueller. 
 
Ned is a master artist with years of experience to his credit.  If you aren’t familiar with him or his work, I encourage you to explore his webpage. www.nedmueller.com
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            “Born in Wisconsin and raised in Montana, Ned Mueller has been drawing and painting all of his life. He graduated from the prestigious Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles where he also taught drawing while still a student. His love for life and art is reflected in his superb paintings of a wide range of subjects including Portraits, Figures, Animals and Landscapes, both studio and plein air.

Ned worked as an illustrator for 25 years while building a solid foundation of professionalism and has worked as a successful full time artist since 1984. He continued to enhance his knowledge and skills by taking workshops with master artists Harley Brown, Richard Schmid, Bettina Steinke, Del Gish, and Sergei Bongart. 

He has written several articles on painting for the Artists Magazine, is called upon to jury shows, and is a popular and enthusiastic workshop teacher around the country and abroad.”
 
After a rain soaked spring here in Montana, we were granted a reprieve in the weather and enjoyed fair weather for most of the weeklong workshop.  Along with 12 other participants, I trekked from high mountain lakes and snowfields at 11000ft to meadows of wildflowers at 8000ft and everything in between. 

Each day began with a demo lesson by Ned and painting our chosen scenes for the rest of the day.  Ned led us in critique for a couple of evenings, after which we retired to our lodging, exhausted but excited for another day.  Two evenings in the week we gathered as a group  in Cooke City to spend some social time swapping stories over a meal.  
 
We caravanned to Cody, WY on the last day to visit the Buffalo Bill Museum and lunch at the Irma.  There were only 2 of us who live in the area and have visited the museum many times in the past, so it was a new and exciting experience for the others.  The artwork displays at the museum are always captivating and I never tire of the atmosphere of the whole experience.
 
Even though all of this beauty and bounty of wildness is my backyard, I am always grateful that somehow, by birth, I landed where I did and have been able to live in a place I love.  I will never take that for granted. 
 
I am filled with inspiration.  And now I must paint.

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