Zion at Big Bend
24 x 36 in.
Oil on linen
This piece will be featured at the Zion Natural History Museum Show as a prelude the Zion National Park Plein Air, which will be held November 5-11, 2018.
Although Bonnie McGee has painted all her life, starting with attending summer classes at the Art Institute of Chicago at age nine, she began to paint full time in 1999 after attending the Plein Air Painters of America workshop in Steamboat Springs. Since then, she has studied with Albert Handel, Tucker Smith, Kevin MacPherson, Quang Ho and most recently, Scott Christensen. After years of participating in various plein air events including Estes Park, Telluride and Steamboat Springs, in 2014 she captured top honors at the Plein Air Artists of Colorado Show in Denver. Many of her studio paintings hang in corporate and personal collections, but she prefers hiking to a remote lake, ranch or stream to paint in the moment “en plein air.”
McGee left a 13-year career as a high school English teacher to sail around the world in her 33 foot sailboat, completing a four and a half year circumnavigation via Panama and South Africa. In 2009, her book VOICES ON THE WIND was published, featuring photos and stories of remote islanders and their influence on her way of seeing her own culture. She was a sought-after speaker at the Strictly Sail Boat Show in Chicago, the San Diego Yacht Club, and other venues and events.
On her journey through life, McGee has summited 28 of Colorado’s “Fourteeners,” run four half marathons, and worked in the British Virgin Islands. She is a passionate powder skier and fly fisher, and patrols on her horse as a volunteer for the US Forest Service in the Flattops Wilderness.
McGee’s artwork reflects all these passions, but her favorite subject matter captures her love of wild places and the serenity she feels in a grand landscape. Painting slows her down, allowing her to stand quietly observant to the beauty around her. She is represented by Wild Horse Gallery in Steamboat Spring, Colorado, and Juniper Sky Fine Arts at Coyote Gulch in Kayenta, Utah.
Catch Bonnie in action at Steamboat Art Museum Plein Air September 22-29 and Zion National Park Plein Air November 5-11.
View more of Bonnie’s work at www.bonniemcgeefineart.com.
Awards and Exhibits
2018 Zion Invitational plein Air
2016 Second Place Steamboat Art Museum Plein Air
2016 Plein Air Artists of Colorado (PAAC) Juried National Show
2015 Plein Air Artists of Colorado Juried National Show
2014 PAAC BEST of SHOW AWARD for “Convergence”
2014 Telluride Juried Plein Air
2014 Solo Show Circle Seven Fine Art
2013 Artwork selected for the cover of STEAMBOAT GUIDE
2013 PAAC National Show at Abend Gallery, Denver, CO
2013 Special Award for Excellence in Oil Painting at the Moab Plein Air Event
2013 Selected to Participate in the Albin Polachek Plein Air Event in Winter Park, Florida
Memberships
Member Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, Women Artists of America
