The Evening Show

 

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This is another attempt to paint the gathering storm clouds we witnessed on an evening of a recent camping trip. I used a scrap panel, so the size is odd (but no problem for a framer). So many subtle colors - such a challenge to paint.

Market in the Trees

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A few weeks ago my husband and I drove over to Spokane & Coeur d'Alene to explore their Saturday markets for reference material. We found the one in Spokane to be fairly underwhelming. This is a scene from the one in Coeur d'Alene, which was nestled in the trees. It made for lovely ambience, and cool shopping, but fairly dark photos. I was thrilled when these two stepped into the light!

Ruby Lake From Above

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This is the last one (that turned out) from my trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains last month. This one is from a solo day hike to Ruby Lake (from base camp at Garnet Lake). I found this scene not far from the trail, and while this trail is not heavily trafficked, for some reason a bunch of people walked by right as I was in the very ugly beginning stages of this painting. I was working fast because this light was changing by the minute. And some guy said, "Oh, are you painting?" Ummm, yes. "What you are you painting?" This scene. "Are you going to paint the whole thing?" Nope. "Which part are you going to paint?" Uhhh, it's hard to explain? 

At this point I think the inflection in my voice, and the fact that I turned my back to him so I could focus, convinced him to stop asking questions. The next time I looked back he was gone. Sorry dude. I'm not great at answering questions when I'm painting.

I was only able to get a rough sketch and some color notes that day. I took a bunch of pictures and finished it in my studio. I'm really happy with how the blue shimmers against the green.

Atop the Granite

 

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Here is another painting from my August trip into the Sierras. It was done mostly on location, with just a few small touch-ups back in my studio. This spot is about 10 minutes from base camp, and one of my favorite granite outcroppings. Over the years I've painted it from several different angles.

Perhaps because our group is getting older, about half decided to ride horses in this time. I hiked in, but rode a horse out. Here is a picture of the in-riders. One benefit of riding is that instead of always watching where you're stepping next, you can look around and appreciate the view. The downside is that afterwards you're sore in places you didn't even know you had!

Reflected Green

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This is a little gouache painting from one of the creeks around here that I visited in the summer. Apparently these are very popular for fly fishing, although I've never tried it myself. I'm so looking forward to things turning green again like this (as I look out my window at snow falling).

Watering Hole

 

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This is a scene I've painted before, but last time, there were horses. Plus the last one was in oil, and this is gouache. One great thing about gouache is that I can go back and work on it as many times as I want/need. Oil, on the other hand, gets a little finicky. Subsequent darks dry chalky, and if you go back too soon, the under layers are tacky. Plus you always have to keep in mind the fat over lean thing. With gouache all you have to worry about is overworking in general.

Good Morning Majesty

 

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Along with most of the rest of the country, Montana was hit by an arctic blast recently. The temps hovered right around zero, and the snow just accumulated. And so I have been extra motivated to browse back through my photos from the summer and pick out scenes to paint from warmer weather. This is from the Butte area - about 140 miles SE of us. We were so very grateful to have been able to go out and camp then, while still socially distanced. And we're looking forward to doing it again, as soon as the weather allows.

Homeland

 

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My folks met at the University of Texas in Austin when they were students there. They married quickly and struck out north for adventure. They ended up in Montana for 10 years, southeast of Butte, where my sister and I were born. We moved (back) to Texas when I was 2, so I have no memories of Montana, but I have enjoyed exploring the area as an adult. This is a scene from around where I was born, up in the hills, overlooking the valley and the mountains on the other side. 

I didn't paint Texas nearly as much. And I'm not saying Montana is more beautiful ... aww heck, yes I am.

Trees Overlooking the River

 

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When I first got to Montana, I looked at a map and picked a road that went for a good stretch along a river, because I like to paint water. I plugged it into my GPS and headed out. Pretty quickly it turned into a dirt road and ran up along the top of a cliff overlooking the (Clark Fork) river. I didn't have many peeks of the river because there were too many trees. But then I decided the trees were just as pretty as the water. This is one of the first scenes I ever painted in gouache, but I've done it over a few times in order to get it right. This is probably my 4th try.

The Scenic Route

 

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This is from a day drive I took last year. I headed East from Missoula and then south on a "scenic route" towards Phillipsburg. This little dirt road was an off-shoot from the main road. At the start of the road were signs that warned this road went through private property and that one shouldn't stop or get out. I wondered if stopping to take pictures was permitted, but there wasn't a good spot to turn around, so I kept going. 

It turned out to be a gorgeous area, so at one point I did stop to take a few pictures. I heard a sound so I turned around and suddenly there was a swarm of 4-wheelers coming up behind me, fast. So I hopped back in my car and kept driving. I thought for sure I was in trouble, but after a few miles I found a spot to pull over so I could turn around, and all the 4-wheelers passed me with friendly waves. Whew.

Scree Trees

 

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We use an app called "All Trails" to find most of the hikes we go on. They are rated as easy, moderate or hard. This one was ranked moderate, but the comments said some people might consider it hard. It was about 2+1/2 hours of lung-busting, heart-breaking UP, so we tended to agree with HARD. And the lake they promised at the end? We got a tiny peek of it from the top, WAY down the other side of the mountain, with no discernible trail to get there. The hubs and I agreed pretty quickly that we didn't want to go down just to come back up again. The silver lining of this particular hike was this scree field & cliffs about halfway up where I got some nice pictures. My favorite part is the way the shadows change colors depending on where they're pointing, and what light is reflecting back into them (cool sky or warm reflected sunlight). I thought about it the whole way back down, on shaky legs.

As you might guess, we are back from camping. : ) A couple of highlights: we saw a bear! Just a small, black bear, and it ran away immediately, but it was pretty exciting - closest I've ever been to a bear in the wild. And I went to an art opening! My first social event in FOREVER (boy was I rusty)! And a very cool show - artist Turner Vinson, who has lived in this area for a year now and has made some awesome Youtube videos of him painting here. Check them out!

Also, here is my very first gouache plein air, done right up the street from my house. This is just PART of my view, y'all. I'm one lucky girl. It's going in my personal collection. : )

A Tree with a View

 

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Another Sierra scene. Did I mention that it's a painter's paradise up there?

More Cloud than Mountain

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This is from one of my gazillion Sierra references. I get totally different composition ideas from my photos than I did from being there in person. Not better necessarily - just different.

Growing in the Valley

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Here's another one from the same area (south of Flathead Lake, in Montana). The grass is really starting to dry out now, which makes for golden colors and more contrast between the fields and the trees.

Tree Gangs

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This is one from a recent explore. I never know where I am going to find beautiful things so I just aim in a direction and drive. Here there are lots of signs along the road for "fishing access" and I often stop at these spots, just in case there's a good view of a river. At this one I found my scene looking away from the river - these gorgeous trees clumped just so, with the beautiful shadows they cast. Love it.

Arise Mountains

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The last one I posted was from just before sunset, and this one is from just after sunrise. Both are from the same area, near Toll Mountain here in Montana. One cool thing about gouache is that there are a bunch of different ways to apply it. You can add a whole bunch of water and use it almost like watercolor. Or you can put it on thick. Or you can layer it with a dry brush, like I did here for the foreground grass. I'm really enjoying experimenting with this new (for me) medium!

Evening Stroll at Toll Mountain

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This one is from our most recent camping adventure. Because we were outside most of the time, I was able to catch the light when it was really magical. So I've been telling myself I should get out and walk/drive around in the early/late hours here at home too. But have I done it yet? Nope.

Blodgett Creek is Clear

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This is another one from Blodgett Canyon. The calm parts of the creek were oh so clear. I need to go back soon to see if the torrential parts are any different now that it's later in the summer, and almost all the snow up high is melted.

Colorado Rocky River

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Here's one from Colorado, somewhere in the Rockies. The sun was shining strongly in the distance, but everything else was in shadow. I find this very difficult to paint, and even more difficult to photograph with any accuracy. I promise the painting is better than the photo.

River Bend

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I found this scene down in Hamilton, MT, a month or so ago. The cloud shadows were such that the far bank lit up for just a minute. The trees almost looked like they were on fire!