If I wake with a feeling of sadness, and during the day I panic with a sense life is ending, well, it may be because summer is over and nature is shifting into the season of death for all things green and deciduous. The days grow shorter and the air grows colder.
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| "Cliffs and Lake" oil on linen, 12 x 12 inches |
Heidi Of The Mountains and I took an
overnight trip to a beautiful lake and camped out in my van. We do
not need much to make us comfortable. All we had was a foam pad to
sleep on and an overhead light. Most of the other campers were in
expensive recreational vehicles with all the luxuries . . . but that distinction did not help one couple
who were several sites away in their RV. After the sun sank below the horizon and
darkness fell upon the land, they began fighting and the altercation
escalated to what sounded like blows and screaming and crying.
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| "Heidi's Mountains" oil on canvas, 11 x 14 inches |
It is wonderful to paint outdoors. The first step is to find a location that offers the right view. This can
take time . . . to search the landscape for the right elements and
perspective to make an interesting and captivating composition. On
day one, I made a painting of jagged cliffs at the lake edge. Heidi
is becoming an ardent artist and stayed behind at the camp site,
choosing a different view to a distant mountain. The wind picked up
and we both had our painting knocked over. Mine blew down at the
start, before I had begun much work, so I secured it better, resumed, and was
able to finish. The wind blew Heidi's into her, and ruined it so that
she had to begin again. In the end, she almost cried with frustration
since the piece never regained its likableness and she had to throw it away.
The next
day, we decided to paint in the morning before the wind came, and we
both came up with artwork we fancied.
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| "Bluffs at Ghost Ranch" oil on canvas, 20 x 20 inches |
