Looking The Other Direction

Painting backlit snow is very difficult, as I discovered today. It is troublesome to judge color or value when one is looking into something so bright. I think I have exhausted this subject for a while, and will try something else tomorrow. The ice was cracking all around me as I was painting this, but I managed to stay dry. This view is looking the opposite direction from the one I painted yesterday. The colors look better in person than they do here on this post. Overall, it was a magical day, yesterday's heavy fog combined with a zero Fahrenheit overnight temperature creating a thick flocking on everything in the valley. A very gentle breeze blew the crystals into the air where they seemed to hover and sparkle like diamonds in the sunshine against the deep blue sky. It was very Doctor Zhivago. Study 6x8 oil on linen.

Boxing Day Bliss

There is nothing I love more than going out on a beautiful sunny, snowy day to paint. And this week I can't seem to get enough of trying to paint this creek. Today I braved the slippery wet rocks to get a view from the middle of the streambed. This study is my favorite one so far; I am not tired of trying this subject matter yet. There is another view I want to try, but I haven't found the right lighting conditions for it yet; maybe tomorrow. I arose before dawn today and it was crystal clear, but quickly the ground fog moved in and it became as thick as pea soup, and seems to be lingering all day in the valley. You can practically watch the hoar frost form on the trees, flocking everything including the downy winter coats on the livestock, into barely discernable tints of color. It was tempting to try a fog scene, but since the weather looks like it is going to become overcast soon, I thought I'd drive up above the fog to paint the creek again. Study 6x8" oil on linen.

My Christmas Wish

All I wanted for Christmas was sunshine, snow, calm winds, time to paint, and World Peace. Four out of five isn't too bad. It couldn't have been a more perfect morning to paint. If this weather holds, I'll be heading out again tomorrow. Both studies are 6x8 oil on linen. The snow wasn't super fresh, but there was a lovely inch or so of feathery hoar frost on everything which made the snow extra sparkly and lacy (see below), definitely a winter wonderland. The second study here is the one I painted first, fairly early in the morning, and I could hear the coyotes yipping in the distance. Merry Christmas one and all.

Christmas Eve Serenity

I finally had a chance to get out and paint today in the snow. It was overcast, but otherwise a beautiful morning. Twenty degrees and absolutely calm. I managed to find something I wanted to paint and found a nice, quiet site to relax. I really liked the location so I may try to return later in the week and try it again, hopefully with better results and maybe a little more sunshine. Study 6x8" Oil on Linen.

June Pasture

I finished this painting yesterday, although I painted the study for it on a beautiful early morning in June 2008 in northeastern Oregon. If I could begin every day like that, I would be a happy girl. I was thankful for Gore-Tex boots since I was half-standing in the chilly flowing water of a runoff ditch. Across the road were some long-horned cattle with the biggest horns I have ever seen (see below). I kept imagining what it must feel like to go around all day with the weight of a bowling ball on each side of my head. Of course if I had tried to paint one of those beauties into my painting, it would have looked like a cartoon. The steer I did paint are the more ubiquitous Hereford breed raised for beef. They seemed to graze in a synchronized languid pace, wandering in the same direction down the long pasture, turning as a group and leisurely ambling and munching on the way back. I am happy with this piece because I think I managed to capture the mood of that bucolic morning. 40x20", Oil on Linen.

Aspens Glowing in the Afternoon Sunshine

I also painted this one a little while ago, but I'm unsure how I feel about it. I had fun painting it though. It was painted from a couple of studies I did a year ago. I had hiked up into a remote spot to paint, and as the sun became lower and lower, I became more and more paranoid about grizzly bears since they were very active getting fat for their winter hibernation. 24x18 oil on linen.

Autumn Hillside

I painted this from a study done a year ago in eastern Idaho, near Wyoming, in the Victor Valley. I painted it a while ago, but I keep fussing with it. 30x24 oil on linen.

Pass Creek

I painted this one a while ago, but never got around to posting it, probably because I wasn't sure if I was done with it. I'm still not sure. The study was painted in eastern Idaho last September, a year ago this week. When I was painting the study, I spotted what I believe was a beautiful North American Long-tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata). 36x24 oil on linen.

Early Spring in Sonoma County

I painted the study for this painting last spring (technically winter, but to me winter means snow). It was probably January or February, one of those rare pleasant winter days between storms where the radiant heat from the sun is instantly missed as it sets at 4:30 in the afternoon. I was actually painting a different view. It was getting late, I was shivering already and packing up to go home. I turned toward the car and this scene in the last of the afternoon light begged to be painted. My study was very rushed, I just tried to get a few color notes, but it was enough. I spotted the study in my pile and decided it was time to paint it up. I started a smaller canvas and by the time I had finished my rough-in I knew I wanted it bigger, so I grabbed a bigger canvas and started over. I'm glad I did, it is my new favorite. 30x24 oil on linen.

Sequoia Watchtower

I worked this study up to 24x18 a couple of weekends ago. It was a nice way to keep the memory of the trip fresh in my mind while it was still aching in my joints. :)

Sequoia National Park Backcountry

A few studies from my backcountry painting trip last week in Sequoia National Park. All studies are 6x4", oil on linen. The study above is the view toward Watchtower rock

along the popular Pear Lake trail at roughly 9,000 feet. Pear Lake sits in a deep granite bowl at 9,500 feet. A small group of us painted for three beautiful days this year. We had one day of high clouds, wind and flat light, but mostly it was sunny and pleasant. Coyote, pika, chipmunks, bats, mountain bluebirds, and tiny pearl grey mice with white bellies were abundant. I spotted a large buck and an occasional hummingbird at 9,500 feet. The American Pika is an endangered species, threatened by the effects of global warming, so it was nice to see these extremely cute creatures.

We had mostly crystal clear skies, but one morning was more atmospheric. I could smell blueberry pancakes cooking on the camp stove as I was painting the study below.

On the first morning, after not much sleep, I arose well before sunrise to paint, not realizing that the sun doesn't illuminate anything in the lake basin until later in the morning.

The sun also leaves the lake basin well before sunset.

On the hillside above my tent site there were a few gnarled old white pines in interesting shapes growing out of cracks in the granite.

Most of the Lake was surrounded by these steep granite walls that were streaked with mineral deposits. The lake is not particularly deep, and the color consisted of deep jewel tones.

In a couple of places, the granite was interrupted with areas of vegetation. I thought the shapes in this area were really interesting.

Near Jenner

I hadn't been out painting on location for a while and felt very rusty as I tried this seascape study near Jenner. Of course, when one is feeling rusty, a seascape is probably not the easiest subject; however, it was a glorious evening on the beach, clear and calm. The study is 6x4", oil on linen.

Pacific Morning

This painting is 24x20, Oil on Linen. It was painted from a study done last June, near Jenner. I'll shoot a better photo of it when I can varnish it.

Napa November

This painting is 24x18, Oil on Linen. It was painted from a study done last November in Napa County. I'll shoot a better photo of it when I can varnish it. And the color correction on this is terrible!

Boxing Day Breakfast

Another snow painting. This was painted from a couple of studies from last December. I'll take a better photo of it when I can varnish it and make it less shiny. This painting is 24x18, Oil on Linen.

Through The Woods

Oil on Linen, 24x18. I painted the study for this on New Years Day 2008, and have wanted to paint it larger since then. It was a little weird finishing it on a day where my thermometer hit 99 degrees, but it made it feel refreshing I think. The mountain in the distance is Chief Joseph Mountain in the Wallowa Mountains, the location is just outside Enterprise, Oregon.  I want to paint all four seasons of this view at some point, there is something about it that catches my eye every time I drive by. A painting done on location always triggers memories of sights, smells, events. The study for this reminds me that the snow plow drivers in the area are a force to be reckoned with. They fly down these country lanes at top speed in enormous trucks and do not slow for anyone. And there is nowhere to park to be out of their way without getting stuck.

Ediza Afternoon

This painting is also 36x30, Oil on Linen. It is painted from a study done last August at Lake Ediza, in the John Muir wilderness in the eastern high Sierra.

Valley Aspen

This painting is 36x30 Oil on Linen.  The study for it was painted in Victor Valley Idaho last September. 

View of Wallowa Lake from the East Moraine

The Wallowa Valley Festival of the Arts is June 5-7, 2009 in beautiful Joseph, Oregon. I hope to be participating this year and this is my donation for their silent auction to benefit the festival. It is 12x9, Oil on Linen. You may recognize it from a couple of my studies from last summer, painted on the east moraine overlooking Wallowa Lake. I have lately finished two large paintings that I will post as soon as I have decent photos of them. I also hope to rework and update my web site soon, it is long overdue. I have several other large paintings in the works, with one getting very close to completion. And I hope to get out on location soon, I'm overdue for that as well. To paint this scene, I had to get up at 4:30am and hike up a steep hill for an hour to catch the early morning light as the sun peeked over the moraine. It was an excellent way to spend the morning before breakfast. 

In Case You Are Wondering...

Yes, I have been painting, I just haven't been out plein air painting lately. I've been working on a couple of studio paintings based upon my summer studies and hope to have one completed soon. Stay tuned...

Chinook, Squall & Panettone

The weather has been quite varied lately, and downright nasty. We had two days of blustery Chinook winds that melted most of the snow, followed by a winter squall that drove temperatures back down and coated the north facing surfaces with ice. It has settled down now into relative calm and high clouds. This little study was from a couple of days ago when it was windy and cold and lightly snowing, just before the weather went wild. As you can see, it was pretty dreary that day. I'm not very good yet at making dreary days look beautiful. Oil on linen 8x6. 

Boxing Day Calm

I did get out to paint today, but I can't say that I'm happy with them; a combination of hurrying too much and not settling into confident deliberate brushwork. I didn't quite earn my cassata though since they aren't decided candidates for the recycle pile. It was a supremely gorgeous day: an inch of fresh powder to keep the landscape looking clean, dazzling sunshine, soft clouds, calm winds, and a temperature just below freezing. My new boot warmers ended up getting delivered to California, so I will have to tough it out with cold feet. There seems to be some puzzlement about what boot warmers are. They are rechargeable battery powered insoles that slip into your boots. They run about 9 hours on a charge. Just the thing for standing in knee deep snow while painting. Each oil study is 8x6.

Christmas Day Snow

All I wanted for Christmas was snow to paint and boot warmers. The boot warmers haven't arrived yet, but the snow did in abundance. Painting snow is one of my most favorite things so I'm a happy girl today even if my toes and fingers are still trying to thaw. These two oil studies are 8x6 inches. 

Late Autumn Napa Bliss

I finally made it out to paint after taking a break from it for the last month and a half. It felt good to be back out painting, and I will try to go out again soon. This is my favorite time of year, where there has been enough rain to green things up a bit while fall colors are still abundant. The vineyards in particular are still clothed in a variety of lovely autumn hues. The light is very horizontal and filtered with heavy atmosphere typical for November. The days are warm in the sunshine and the winds are calm, perfect for painting. Both oil studies are 6x8". 

Autumn Colors

My four month painting adventure is now complete.  I am already getting nostalgic looking back on the last four months of painting. The primary reason for my painting break was to try to get to a better level by painting more frequently than I can usually do; and to find out if I am meant to be a painter. Just because I have the passion for it doesn't mean that I have the gift. Painting is probably more about the hard work and practice than talent itself, and I hadn't yet done either. I can't profess to having worked hard at it this summer, but I think I have learned the discipline of beginning a habit of practice, at least as much as I can do with the career I have chosen. The passion has certainly been inflamed in the process. And yes, I paint with a limited palette and have for a while now. I prefer it because I makes me look more closely before I mix colors.

Near Iceberg Lake

This alpine meadow study was painted about a couple of hundred yards before Iceberg Lake, which is situated above Lake Ediza at about 10,000 feet. It was very windy that day which made it impossible to paint with an umbrella. I struggled with glare which made it difficult to judge color well, but I managed to touch it up to be close to what I was seeing. The snowfield was a fun bold element to compose with, and it is a good memory of a good day. I would love to work this one up into a larger painting.

Old White Pine

Lake Ediza is at about 9,280 feet according to my GPS unit, near the timber line. I was wandering around looking for something to paint and passed through a very old grove of hemlock and white pine. The gnarled trunk of this specimen growing out of the rocks caught my eye with the late afternoon light reflections. The mountain lumps in the background are Ritter and Banner. I will have a few more studies to post in the next few days but they need some touchup first. 

Minaret Morning

I was intrigued by the long shadows on the slope of the Minarets at this time of morning. This view was painted from the same spot as my favorite study (posted earlier). 

Looking Toward Lake Ediza Outlet

A morning view looking toward the outlet of the lake, painted from our campsite area. We had a day or two of wind early in our trip, but toward the end it was very calm, creating silky reflections on the lake.

Favorite Ediza Study

This view was painted by several of us during our stay at Lake Ediza. It was only a few feet from our campsite and was in comfortable afternoon shade near a small sandy beach. The shallow-to-deep water transition created a gorgeous color modulation. This study was one of only two that I finished on a second day instead of one session, which is usually a little risky if the weather changes. 

Out Spring Hill Road

Ernesto and I went out for a quick painting jaunt today near Petaluma. I haven't painted in Sonoma County for a few months so it felt a little weird to be out looking at eucalyptus, oak trees and dry grass. Thanks Ernesto!

High Sierra High

I spent six glorious days in the high Eastern Sierra doing my two favorite things, hiking and painting, with eight fellow painters and one photographer. We camped on the far side of Lake Ediza in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, a short distance from the John Muir Trail. We hired a pack trip outfitter to take our heavy equipment, gear and beverages in on mules, while we hiked in with daypacks. We also hired a cook to keep us well fed so that all we needed to do is roll out of our tents and paint. We had fabulous weather this year (last year we had lots of hail and rain). When I return to NE Oregon midweek, I will post a few paintings and happenings. It feels good to be freshly showered and ready to sleep in a real bed! The snapshot of the Minarets above was taken near the lake outlet on the hike out. 

Huckleberry Heaven

Yesterday was a wipe-down painting day, 'nuf said. Today's priority was huckleberrying. We rode dirt bikes up into national forest land, which was great because we could stop when we smelled ripe berries. Tonight I will make wild huckleberry cobbler which are tied with white truffles for my favorite food flavor. For the next few days I may choose to hunt berries instead of painting. For a change my fingers are stained with berry juice instead of paint. :) We spotted a badger when we stopped to pick berries, I think he may have been eating them. He had that miffed expression on his face that badgers always seem to have. 

Sacajawea Peak

I hiked into the Eagle Cap Wilderness this morning. I had almost given up on painting because it was overcast, but it eventually cleared. I'm not terribly happy with this study (it looks too much like an illustration), but hopefully I learned something for the next one. The hike in was perfumed with the scents of wild berry and sage; it is blackberry and huckleberry season. Wildflowers are still thick on the ground and mosquitos thick in the air. I am not in shape for my upcoming Sierra trip so I thought I'd make myself do more hiking.

Dawn On Hurricane Creek

I wanted to try something moodier than what I have been painting. I was quite out of my comfort zone, but it was fun to try. It was definitely an exercise in close value and color relationships. I was also out of my physical comfort zone, it was a chilly morning to be standing in the misty shade by a river. 

Canyon Sentinel

It was time to try a hero tree again. This stalwart gnarled fir specimen was on the edge of a sheer drop into the Big Sheep canyon. This tree looks ancient, and it is amazing that anything could survive on this ridge with the winter winds, hurricane force winds are not uncommon. I should redesign the background so that the hill ridge is not tangent with the sweep of the tree branch. I think it is better than my previous tree attempts, I think I'm making progress. :)

Cat's Back Prospect

We finally got some clearer weather this morning with beautiful hazy sunlight. I drove up to a location called the Cat's Back. It is a skinny ridge with canyons on either side, to the south is the Big Sheep canyon, this northerly view is a series of canyons: Craven, Mitchell, Wolf, and Little Sheep. I wasn't sure about this study when I finished it, but it is growing on me and becoming a favorite. Mostly I want to refine the foreground tree shapes and fix one of the background hills.

Thunderstorms And A Great Horned Owl

Last night and tonight, there was a magnificent yet somewhat scruffy great horned owl sitting on the roof -- hoo-hoo, hoo, hoo. I spent the afternoon watching the lightning show. It was quite dramatic today, I counted three strikes that started forest fires on the mountains. Fortunately the rain was heavy enough to soon douse the fires before they gained much momentum, but for a few minutes the flames were quite tall and bright, and one of them smoldered and smoked for a couple of hours. More thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next couple of days so I'm not sure if I'll get to paint. I really don't want to be out standing on a ridge with a metal umbrella in this weather, the brand new flooring store a half mile away was struck by lightning today. Might be a good time to make more Marionberry cobbler. 

Big Sheep And Seven Devils

The distant mountain range in this view is the Seven Devils, the foreground is Cummins Gulch leading into Big Sheep Canyon. I'm doing small canyon warmups before I tackle a Hells Canyon view. On the drive back I felt like I was in a Disney movie because of the number of deer, bluebirds and chipmunks; I kept expecting Thumper to show up and for them to break into song.

Angus Ranch

Yesterday was a scouting morning that didn't turn up anything promising, and I am realizing that I can't paint on only one hour of sleep. This morning I also went to a new area but had better luck (more sleep also helped). There are a couple more views out this way that I'd like to paint soon, there are many small canyons leading up to the bigger Joseph, Imnaha and Hells Canyons. I could spend the rest of my vacation painting nothing but canyons and not get to them all. The top of the canyon in view is the Big Sheep Canyon.

More Fun With Bales

It is amazing that there are still some snow bits remaining in August. This view is looking up Hurricane Creek, I have been wanting to paint this canyon shadow for a while -- I'm glad I waited because the crystalline sky and hay bales made it too tempting to pass up. I am very happy with this study, it turned out pretty much the way I envisioned it when I set up to paint; I wish that would happen more often!

Early Morning On The Lake

Another view of the lake -- I was seduced by the sunshine streaming over the moraine, illuminating the atmosphere over Bonneville Mountain (Mt. Howard is to the left and Chief Joseph Mountain is to the right, with peeks/peaks of  Aneroid Mountain and Craig Mountain in the distance). It was nice to have a few clouds this morning. I need to fix and blur the reflections in the water since they are distracting.

          The afternoon became a little stormy with great clouds. I was feeling too lazy to head out to paint, so I did a cloud study from my deck. If I keep doing cloud studies, maybe one day I will figure out how to paint them well.  

Morning Reflections

Yesterday I spent my early morning painting time location scouting and found a couple of spots that looked promising. I returned to my favorite one this morning at the head end of Wallowa Lake. I awoke a little late and had to scramble a bit and didn't spend as much time finessing the drawing as I would like, but I think the study works for color and light reference. I would love to work this one up larger at some point, I think it is my new favorite.

Lake Head

I hiked back up the east moraine of the lake again this morning, this time sticking to the logging road. The angle is similar to the last one but I wanted to try to get a bit of the lake in it this time. 

Bluebella

We have two female yellow Labrador Retrievers, a 10 year old smart one (Tyler) and a 8 month old puppy who is not so smart, but is super cute (Bella). I made the mistake of leaving Bella unattended for a little over an hour yesterday evening. I returned home to a disaster. The family room was ultramarine blue, the dining room was phthalo blue, the living room was a mixture of kings blue, a touch of sap green, and a bit of dark earth brown. There were a couple of completely missing tubes. The puppy was covered in blue paint and still had a tube in her mouth. She had gotten into my painting backpack and was having a grand time turning the house into an abstract painting. Fortunately the vet was home and would take her (gotta love country vets). On the way to the vet she vomited an impressive amount of blue and metal bits. The vet made her throw up some more and then we had to force feed her a bottle of activated charcoal to help flush out the rest through the other end. Most of that came up on the way home, hopefully enough stayed in her system to do its job. It binds other organic matter to it to help it pass through to keep stuff from ending up in her liver. Poor puppy she was feeling pretty miserable by this point. The carpet was going to get ripped up soon anyway, so that isn't a big deal thankfully. In fact the tile that goes in the house is sitting and waiting to be installed. So no painting to post today because my dog ate my paint, sounds like a lame excuse for missing a school assignment doesn't it? Ugly Dog Brush Soap works great on puppy fur, in case you ever need to know this information! She slept through the night, ate her breakfast, and seems like a normal blue puppy this morning. She is acquiring a collection of nicknames, the last one was Cinderbella after a firepit incident. 

Above The Lake

I tried to hike up the east moraine of Wallowa Lake this morning. I made the mistake of leaving the logging road to hike up what looked like a nice foot trail. It became more of a deer trail and then dissipated into no trail at all. There were plenty of whitetail out and they all seemed to be having a much easier time with the terrain than I was; as you can see, it is quite steep. I stopped when I reached a precipice and set up to paint this view in the canyon above the lake. Next time I'll stick to the logging road and see where I end up. I got a good workout though in preparation of my Eastern Sierra Lake Ediza trip in August. 

Not Quite To Imnaha

I drove out toward the Imnaha River Canyon down a single lane potholed gravel road on the prairie. I didn't get as far as I had hoped before I hit a gate. My map didn't cover the area so I didn't know if it was okay to proceed, so I stopped and painted where I was. This is where the Zumwalt prairie starts transitioning into the canyon. I am now itching to paint the canyon more than ever, if only I could figure out how to get a view of it. Need a better map. On the way, I had the treat of seeing a herd of elk up close. I should have known that the shape and features of this hill are too weird to paint. I only like the left third or bottom third of the study.

Between Storms

We had thunderstorms with heavy rain today, a good day for making jams and cobblers, this time blueberry, raspberry and Marionberry. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, moody and dramatic, but a little too wet for painting. However around 6pm, it cleared enough so I headed out. There wasn't much time to choose a location or be fussy about composition; it was definitely one of those hurry-up-and-paint-before-the-sun-sets situations. It was very fun. I am heading back to Washington for a few days; with luck I'll paint more basalt and sagebrush while there. 

Random Stuff

I haven't had much luck lately getting out to paint. Yesterday morning was overcast so I decided to paint in the afternoon, but instead spent it in the ER where my husband was getting stitches for a bicycle sprocket gashing and subsequent fall, not a good day for him. This morning it was both very smokey and very overcast and it doesn't seem to be clearing. I ventured out to scout on the prairie a little bit anyway and have a vague idea where I might try next, near the Imnaha River Canyon which runs near the Snake River Hells Canyon. It is a bit of a drive, an hour of washboard gravel roads, which is why I haven't painted out that way yet. This morning I came unnervingly close to hitting a coyote with my car, it somehow miraculously was unscathed. I stopped in a few places to take some photos and in one spot a large prairie dog ran up to within a couple feet of me to check me out. He seemed totally unafraid of me, like a squirrel in a park, but out here he couldn't be looking for a treat. It is possible he had never seen a human before up close. There is a rare home out on the prairie (ok in 40 miles this morning I saw one), but a person needs to be willing to live completely off the grid. Apparently in eastern Oregon the population was larger 100 years ago than it is today. There are a large number of abandoned old homesteads sprinkled around; it must have been a pretty hard-scrabble existence especially in the long winters. It might be why the Roosevelt Elk are so revered in this area; the bull elk hunting season seems to be the highlight of the year; a large bull would feed a family all winter. This was Nez Perce country, but the Shawnee name for elk, wapati, seems to be in heavy use locally. Hunters come from all over the US (and even the world) for elk season; it is definitely something to think about when hiking around here in the fall, you are probably the only person in the woods without a rifle or bow. The weather forecast for the next few days is not good, I might try something moody or I may get skunked.

Porker Ground Squirrels

This morning I drove back up Elk Mountain Road, this time looking down towards the valley. The foreground is the rolling hills of the edge of the prairie, the background is the Wallowa Mountain Range with the setting moon. It is difficult to relate the absoluteness of the quiet in a location like this, most people never get to hear this kind of noiselessness, no human noise, no wind noise, not even the sound of insects, the silence only broken by the occasional screech of a red-tailed hawk. The ground squirrels must be a tasty treat for these hawks because they are positively obese right now. They look so silly with their chubby bodies as they run across the road, tummies barely clearing the ground. I got my own treat this morning; my husband rode his dirt bike out with a thermos of hot home-roasted espresso for me. A dirt bike would be a very handy painting ride in these parts. I still need to fix where I have one shadow/light edge meeting up exactly with the other one.