My trip to Torres del Paine National Park in Chile was the fulfillment of a dream. It was altogether more vast than what I had expected and sometimes the reality of it was abrasive: winds too fierce to walk against, torrential rain, the piercing rumble of broken ice cascading thousands of feet down to the valley floor. I was in the park for twelve days and I lived those days in a sort of slow frenzy, always conscious of the measures it had taken to get there. My mantra against exhaustion was “David, at this point some things are not optional.” Rising long before sunrise was not optional. Painting with numb fingers during snow flurries and frigid wind was not optional. Hiking dozens of miles with the heaviest backpack I have ever carried was certainly not optional either, though my knees complained fiercely. My return to the States has been full of contrasting emotions, including great sadness at the news of the recent forest fire in Torres del Paine. The fire consumed more than 31,000 acres of the park's most pristine landscape. For me it is a poignant reminder of how quickly places, like our lives, can be altered beyond recognition.

In November and December I will be traveling through Chile. For part of that time I will be painting in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia. The park is famous for its spectacularly jagged mountains, glaciers, and alpine lakes. It is also famous for its wind and unpredictable weather. My preparatory tasks include painting outside on windy days and taking hiking trips with a very heavy backpack. I plan to do approximately 50 miles of backpacking while in Torres del Paine. Check back for windswept paintings and updates about my adventures!

Vista Phones commissioned me to do a series of five paintings. I just completed the series, which feature five different mountains along the front range. Vista Phones will use the images as part of their updated website banner. To see the paintings, visit vistaphones.com or see them on my “Portfolio” page.

Informed Collector chose me as their featured artist for July 21. They offer “free daily briefs about today's finest artists.” This is what they said about my work: “Distinctive surface treatment creates a unique style and feel to landscapes that are compelling and meditative.”

My painting “Evening Reaches” was chosen as a finalist in Ray Mar's monthly Fine Art Competition. The judge, Nancy Crookston, said: “This late evening tonal landscape keeps the values and hues tight and beautiful. It is a simple and beautiful design that has a timeless quality.”

My painting “Snow Rhythms, Morning” won the Allen Award at the Plein Air Artists of Colorado Annual Show. The award is given based on the artist's use of abstract shapes in a landscape.

"I recently returned from a trip to Washington DC and Philadelphia, where I had the privilege of gatherng inspiration from some of the best art museums in the country. A highlight was seeing two of Emil Carlsen's landscapes, compositions of stunning simplicity, filled with diffused light and the quiet voices of clouds. Of course I also had to visit Rembrandt's self portrait at the National Gallery, a painting that threatens to swallow me whole every time I see it. Several of Whistler's nocturne paintings have lodged themselves in my mind and have made the beauty of the night run deep into my imagination. Since my return, I have been experimenting with Whistler's method of remembering night scenes, etching them in my mind so that I can paint them in my studio by day."- David Grossmann

"In January, 2010, I completed Jay Moore's Mentorship Program. Each year for the past several years Jay has taken a select group of students and mentored them for six months. Jay designed the intensive training course to equip artists with the tools they need to be successful throughout the rest of their careers. This proved to be a pivotal time for me and has transformed my thinking about my life as an artist. Since January, I have been steadily reviewing the material Jay covered with me in the mentorship and I have been spending a great deal of time applying some of its practical aspects to my artwork. I am sincerely grateful to have had this opportunity and I am excited to see how these seeds come to fruition throughout the rest of my career." - David Grossmann