July was full of painting at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs. This is
my seventeenth year painting at the Broadmoor. Although I am only there a few
times a year, as I approach the porte cochere at The Broadmoor I am still awestruck by the wonder and beauty of this resort.

The month started off with a quick little project in the New “Pet Boutique”. I actually have my eye on a sweater for Bella’s Christmas present. This was a simple little project that took less that a day. A quote: “Our Purrrfect companions never have fewer than four feet.” Then there were paw prints all over the background with a cute little dog and a cat at either end. The idea for the style of animals came from the Boutique’s logo. Since I keep forgetting to take pics of that I will have to show you later. Meanwhile here is the cheerful logo designed by Julie Jameson Terrafranca of the Broadmoor.

Next there were two covered walkways leading to buildings referred to as
Northeastmoore and Southeastmoore. It was decided that the eight areas to be
painted should coordinate to the designs I had created over ten years ago for
the nearby arches on the exterior of Broadmoor Main. Instead of being painted in the same neutral colors as the original design the new design would be painted with the white of the window and door trim. The color of the area to be painted was a lovely, soft sky blue. Using the same components I designed a seven foot wide stencil, three foot tall at the center. The original design for the arches was two feet by two and a half feet tall.

Then came the areas above two seven foot wide windows at the entrance to  The Boutique, a fabulous, colorful women’s boutique. The exterior wall was
painted an dramatic pumpkin color. My job was to paint floral sprays above each window. When I asked if there was a preference of flowers the response was, “I just want ‘Mickey” flowers’.” That was music to my ears, I love to paint “Mickey Flowers”! It is so much more difficult to paint by the book than it is to paint from the heart.

Mickey Flowers are pretty much like they sound . . . flowers I feel will be appropriate for the area. Lots of white and blue was suggested. Here is what flowed from my bushes. Please excuse the scaffold in the finished shot.

When I returned home after the first day of painting I had an email saying how much they loved my flowers but that now their sign no longer matched. Today I emailed an idea for a new sign, waiting for approval.

Another fun thing I do for the Broadmoor is give tours of my art and demonstrations to their guests. In July I had the pleasure of spending time with
fifteen guests from across the US. They were such a delight and they asked the
best questions. I enjoyed every minute of the time I spent with them. We had a
few that had made a detour when this shot was taken.

Bella’s Insights

Greetings my friends! Mom and I had another adventure before the end of July. We
packed up and drove to Broomfield, Colorado. We took the “scenic route” as mom called it, ending up in Boulder, Colorado. Somehow I doubt that was part of her plan seeing as how we turned around and went back several miles to catch the exit we needed. What was she thinking?!?

We stayed at a really nice lady’s home, her name was Dr. Sabo and she liked me. Her assistant, Jenna, was really nice, too. I met lots of people because I got to go to work with mom every day. I was pretty darn good too. I made sure to let mom know when I had to go do my duty. The only time I barked was if someone came to the door – not sure why mom didn’t like that so much. Humph.

The first day mom painted aspen trees nine feet tall with tall flowing grasses at the base of the trees. The next day mom got to paint more of her favorite things, flowers. The next two days she painted a wall pocket with flowers on the opposite wall. Boy, my vocabulary grows when I go to work with mom.

Then Dr. Sabo had an open-house with good food, a massage therapist and an acupuncturist, jewelry, a silent auction with the proceeds going to charity, and lots of people stopped by, even the Mayor of Broomfield came. I kept an eye on everything and made sure everyone was having a good time. I didn’t bark one time, mom was so proud of me. Mom says painting a mural is a workout for body, mind and soul.

That was my new adventure. Hope you have an adventure
planned.

Hey, you could even tell me about it on mom’s blog.

~ Bella, the adventurer

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