Fire & Rain
Watercolor
10" X 8"
It was a
long-anticipated trip to Lone Pine. We hadn’t been camping in what seemed like
decades and we needed to sooth our souls with some Sierra time.
Fire season had
reared over the world like a beast from hell and we’d had two fires in two
weeks that were too damn close. Everything in the house smelled like the smoke that
had hung over us like a dirty coat for days and days.
The morning
we set off, the desert was still blanketed by smoke from recent fires. As we headed north, it thinned; and by the time we saw the first white
shoulder of granite, the skies were blue again.
We set up
camp and goofed the afternoon away inhaling the cool moisture of the falls up
at Whitney Portal. Once back in camp, we squeezed our chairs into a dinky patch
of shade and watched the afternoon unfold. It was hot, but a stiff breeze kept the heat
down. And by stiff, I mean that anything you weren’t holding on to (beers,
chairs, maps, and hats) would blow over—or away, ending up somewhere near
Bridgeport.
I sketched (a death grip on my pad and pencil)
and watched a growing cloud of smoke blow over the ridge from the west, tinting
the landscape yellow-orange. To the southeast, the clouds mushroomed over the
Inyo mountains, gathering for a dump over the desert.
I really
wanted to paint, but it was just too darn windy. I exchanged one pad for
another and worked on another sketch. As the light faded, the wind lessened. By
dark, it was calm, the smoke had lifted and we enjoyed watching our favorite
show: Stars and Campfire.
Two weeks
later, I dug the sketches out and painted from memory.
Although I’ve
not shared much art with you lately, I have two more paintings to show you,
plus another that is still being fine-tuned. That third and larger painting has
been giving me trouble.
I’m tempering my activity on that one so as not to
destroy it (yes, it happens), especially after all the time I’ve put in on it. I
know what needs to be fixed, but I
haven’t figured out how to fix it.
One morning I will wake up with the solution. I find those last moments in and out of
sleep often yield answers to nagging painting problems. Stay tuned...
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