First Chair Vibes Painting Full View Caley Van Cleave
First Chair Vibes Painting in Living Area Slated Wall
First Chair Vibes Painting in Living Area
First Chair Vibes Painting Outdoors Caley Van Cleave
First Chair Vibes Painting White Background Caley Van Cleave
First Chair Vibes Painting Close Up of Gondola Caley Van Cleave
First Chair Vibes Painting Close Up of Trees Caley Van Cleave

'First Chair Vibes' | Original Painting | Chasing Winter Collection

$1,931.00

This original painting captures the magic of grabbing that first gondola chair on a ski day here in Colorado. The joy of being the first to slice through the powder and create your own turns in pristine snow. I brought the sacred feeling of this moment into the piece with the subtle brush strokes and soft hues of color across the fresh snow on the mountain. The glaze helps to create the dreamlike feeling that comes with this extremely rare moment in a ski season. While catching the first chair, you cherish the loneliness of the mountain before the day’s skiers join which I’ve infused into this piece in the composition layout creating an empty expanse in the terrain. May this dreamlike piece bring you joy like that lottery ticket of first chair on the mountain.

Artwork Details:

  • Medium: Professional Golden & Liquitex heavy-body acrylics

  • Surface: Wood panel

  • Size: 36 × 24 × 1.5 inches

  • Protection: Golden Isolation Coat + UV-protective Liquitex satin varnish

  • Signatures & Authentication: Hand-signed by the artist on back and front of the piece; includes an official Certificate of Authenticity.

Chasing Winter Collection

This year, the snow didn’t show up, so I went into the studio and made my own. This collection is a heartfelt attempt to conjure the snow I couldn’t find on the peaks. From electric blues to neon whites, these pieces are how I filled the cup that the mountains left empty. It’s my way of finding the healing quiet of the powder even when the ground stayed bare. It’s raw, it’s honest, and it’s the only way I knew how to survive a winter that wasn’t. I hope you can feel the soul of the winter I so damn wished for in every stroke. Take a look at other pieces in this Chasing Winter Collection here.

All original paintings are final sale. If you have questions about the artwork, reach out to me.

This original painting captures the magic of grabbing that first gondola chair on a ski day here in Colorado. The joy of being the first to slice through the powder and create your own turns in pristine snow. I brought the sacred feeling of this moment into the piece with the subtle brush strokes and soft hues of color across the fresh snow on the mountain. The glaze helps to create the dreamlike feeling that comes with this extremely rare moment in a ski season. While catching the first chair, you cherish the loneliness of the mountain before the day’s skiers join which I’ve infused into this piece in the composition layout creating an empty expanse in the terrain. May this dreamlike piece bring you joy like that lottery ticket of first chair on the mountain.

Artwork Details:

  • Medium: Professional Golden & Liquitex heavy-body acrylics

  • Surface: Wood panel

  • Size: 36 × 24 × 1.5 inches

  • Protection: Golden Isolation Coat + UV-protective Liquitex satin varnish

  • Signatures & Authentication: Hand-signed by the artist on back and front of the piece; includes an official Certificate of Authenticity.

Chasing Winter Collection

This year, the snow didn’t show up, so I went into the studio and made my own. This collection is a heartfelt attempt to conjure the snow I couldn’t find on the peaks. From electric blues to neon whites, these pieces are how I filled the cup that the mountains left empty. It’s my way of finding the healing quiet of the powder even when the ground stayed bare. It’s raw, it’s honest, and it’s the only way I knew how to survive a winter that wasn’t. I hope you can feel the soul of the winter I so damn wished for in every stroke. Take a look at other pieces in this Chasing Winter Collection here.

All original paintings are final sale. If you have questions about the artwork, reach out to me.

How This Piece Will Feel in Your Space

*

How This Piece Will Feel in Your Space *

Imagine walking into your room and being swept into the quiet, dreamlike stillness of the mountain before the rest of the world wakes up.

First Chair Vibes brings a crisp, luminous calm onto your wall. The soft, layered glazes of cool cyan, icy turquoise, and powder-white give the snow an ethereal glow, while the deep indigo pine silhouettes bring grounding balance to the space. With its vast, untouched snowscape and subtle lift tower cresting the ridge, this canvas opens up your room with a clean, airy freshness—filling your home with the pure, tranquil magic of a pristine mountain morning.

Living with First Chair Vibes gives you that thrilling, exclusive "winning the mountain lottery" feeling every single day.

Pausing in front of this canvas instantly transports you to those sacred, early-morning moments: cold air in your lungs, the quiet hum of the lift, and the sheer euphoria of standing atop an empty mountain of untouched powder waiting just for you. It serves as an uplifting daily spark—reminding you to savor the quiet moments of solitude, chase the magic of fresh starts, and hold on to that pure, childlike excitement of carving your own line through life.

Behind the Craftsmanship

Every original painting is a labor of love, built from the ground up using only professional, museum-quality materials. All pieces are crafted to endure for generations in your home.

  • The Foundation & Palette: I paint on premium, archival wood panels or heavy-duty canvas, using highly pigmented Golden and Liquitex professional acrylics. These paints are chosen for their incredible lightfastness and rich, heavy-body textures, allowing the vibrant, unexpected colors and abstract images to pop off the surface.

  • The Preservation Layer: Once the painting is complete, I apply a crucial archival step: a Golden Isolation Coat. This permanent, glossy, transparent layer seals the acrylic paint permanently, acting as a physical shield that protects the actual brushwork from the environment.

  • The Final Touch: To finish each piece, I apply a premium Liquitex Satin Varnish. This provides a beautiful, soft sheen that enhances the depth of the colorful landscape without distracting glare. It also offers vital UV protection and allows the surface to be safely cleaned in the future if needed.

  • Provenance & Authentication: Each original piece is hand-signed on the back for official authentication as well as my painted signature on the front of the piece. Your painting will also arrive with a separate, official Certificate of Authenticity to accompany the piece for your records. 

By investing in these specialized, multi-step preservation techniques, I ensure that the dreamlike energy, texture, and crisp brush strokes of your favorite painting remain as vivid and flawless decades from now as they were the day they left my mountain studio.

Meet The Artist

*

Meet The Artist *

Howdy! I’m Caley Van Cleave a Colorado-based artist, lifelong rambler, and a self-proclaimed color maximalist. Inspired by the vastness of the American West, I take sketches and memories from my outdoor adventures and dial up the intensity—bringing the hidden purples of a sunrise snowbank and the electric joy of the wild straight to the canvas.

From my home base at 9,000 feet in Silverthorne, CO, or out on the road in my Airstream, I paint to capture the emotional impact of rugged mountain sunshine and red clay canyons. If it’s bright, bold, and celebrates our stunning natural world, I’m enamored by it.

You won’t find any beige here. I bring the ridiculous, joyful color combinations of our wild spaces directly to the canvas so you can celebrate a world of beautiful, vibrant adventure right in your own space.

LEARN MORE

Where To Buy In Real Life

2026 Breckenridge Fine Arts Festival

July 2, 3, and 4th - Breckenridge, Colorado

August 6, 7, and 8th - Breckenridge, Colorado

2026 Boulder Art Festival

September 5th and 6th - Pearl Street Mall - Boulder, Colorado (Labor Day Weekend)

2026 Fall Arts Invitational at Cheesman Park

October 3rd and 4th - Cheesman Park - Denver, Colorado

Come say howdy in person! I’d love to meet you and share these delightful contemporary landscape paintings with you in real life (IRL for the win!).

Subscribe to stay up to date on works and shows, plus those fun bits on this artistic journey.