Evening in the Hollow

 

Evening in the Hollow

11" x 14" oil on Belgian Linen

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The first evening I spent at the cabin, I looked up the hollow as the sun was lowering toward the ridge and thought, "why paint anything else?" I love this painting. It might be the favorite of all that I've ever done. But it still doesn't come close to capturing the pristine beauty and color of Seldom Seen Hollow. 

What I love about my favorite painters and what I've tried to work toward, is the ability to say so much with so little detail.  It appears simple, even though I know it's far from it. I think I'm closer with this one than I've ever been. 

Fence Line

Fence Line

8" x 10" oil on board

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This is the seventh of seven Highland County paintings - I'm saving my favorite for last.  I painted this quickly because the sun was going down, and I like the looseness.  This is the view looking southeast so I got to stand in the shade on the side of the house as the sun was setting diagonally behind me. I had been standing in the sun all day, so the shade felt as good as jumping in the river had earlier in the day. When the sun sets at the cabin, the cows seem to take up a conversation, each mooing its own distinct moo.  Sometimes the conversation dies, only to be revived a minute later by a braying that sounds more like a donkey than a cow. Once started, they all have to get a word in. 

Cowpasture Crossing

 

Cowpasture Crossing

8" x 10" oil on Belgian Linen

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I had scoped out this spot on my first day in Highland County - I wanted to paint it because I loved the shadows on the dirt road and the way the Cowpasture River (yep, that's the Cowpasture - see previous post) reflected the sky above. To get to the spot you cross a swinging bridge and head upstream from the junction of the Bullpasture and Cowpasture.  The Cowpasture River looks more like a hog wallow here than a river. 

I know no one wants to hear me complain about standing by a river, painting, but this painting was torture to make.  I was nervous because, while painting my first painting of The Junction, I had seen some sort of fertilizer or manure spreader with wheels taller than I am, pass through the very spot I would be painting. While I hadn't seen any no trespassing signs, I worried that if the farmer saw me standing on his land, he might not like it.  Whether he minded me painting there or not, he would have to pass back through on his way home. Hopefully, he would finish and head back before I finished my first painting. He didn't, and I decided to risk it. 

While painting this painting, I could hear the spreader doing its thing, so it was looming in the back of my mind that I might have to face an angry farmer or at least have to move my easel mid-painting to get out of his way. This sounds bad, but I also didn't want to have to take a break to talk to the farmer because it only takes a few minutes for the light to change completely. Now, I was hoping I would finish the painting before he finished the spreading

While the impending interaction with the farmer was unnerving, that was not the torturous part.  If you've ever seen a cow covered in biting black flies, that's what I'm guessing I looked like.  There were no cows around, only my dog Rainey, who drew in even more flies, so they all came to me.  At least cows have tails to swat with- I had a brush in one hand and paint on the other, so swatting was not an option.  

Then, as I was contemplating giving up out of pure misery, here came the manure spreader.  An alien rover with tinted windows - I had no idea who or what was going to hop out of that thing.  Rainey was cowering and refused to move and the thing didn't seem to be slowing down. I had to jerk Rainey by the collar with one hand while holding my tripod and easel in the other and trying to keep all of my brushes from sliding off the tray.  I got Rainey into the bushes beside the road, however, I had to search for my brushes.  

Finally, the thing stopped. What hopped out was a sixteen-ish year old boy who was nice as could be. He apologized profusely for making me move and said he wouldn't have to come back through again that day. So that was a lot of worry about nothing.  Regardless, I was done with this painting.  Despite the mental and physical torture, it turned out ok. 

The Junction

The Junction

8" x 8" oil on board

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The merging of the Mississippi and Ohio it is not.  The Cowpasture River is little more than a trickle before it meets with the Bullpasture River. Sometimes it dries up completely in summer, but the Bullpasture always seems to run strong and cold.  It's odd to me that after they meet, they take the Cowpasture's name.

This was a tough paint.  The values of water follow different rules from the values of solid objects or land. I don't have a ton of experience painting water, so it was tough to judge those relationships and I'm not sure I got it exactly right.   The Cowpasture sure felt great after two hours of standing in the sun, while getting devoured by black flies.

The View South

 

The View South

9" x 12" oil on board

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The VRBO cabin that I rent for my annual painting retreat, near the town of McDowell in Highland County, VA, faces south. To get to the cabin from the vantage point of this painting, you walk up and over the rise in front of you.  The cabin sits on a large terrace, halfway down a massive hill at the entrance to the hollow. The view south from the cabin's front porch is miles and miles of the same - hills, hollows and mountains. There's a reason why Highland County is known as Virginia's little Switzerland.  

Storm's Coming

 

Storm's coming

8" x 10" oil on board

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The storm clouds spilling over the ridge looked incredible so of course I had to paint them. Storm clouds change quickly, however, and by the time I got my easel in position, the clouds over the peak were not the clouds that had drawn me in. I actually had to copy these clouds from a different part of the sky and superimpose them on top of the ridge.  And what follows storm clouds?  That's right - so if it looks a little rushed, that's because it was.  Luckily, it was a quick shot of rain, unlike last year's retreat, which was a three day downpour. And the evening following the storm was one of the more crisp and spectacular evenings I have experienced. 

Country Crab Apple

 

Country Crab Apple

8" x 8" oil on board

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The first of SEVEN paintings that I completed in three days during my annual painting retreat to Highland County, VA. 

I told myself this was going to be kind of a warmup.  I asked for and received a new travel easel that if you've read this blog before, you've heard me talk about getting for years.  So this was a test run, but I started to like what I was seeing, so I finished it out. 

The new easel and tripod worked great and they definitely had a positive impact on the paintings I completed during this trip. Setup with my old easel was ten minutes of fury with parts breaking and balancing things so my panels didn't fall out on the ground. Now, I snap the pochade box onto the tripod and I'm ready to paint. There's no way I could have completed seven paintings in three days with my previous setup.  So thanks!  

Backyard - Redbud

 

Backyard - Redbud

8" x 10" oil on board

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Getting some practice in before my painting trip to Highland County, VA next week. My brain is a bit addled after having two teeth pulled earlier this week. I took a bunch of painkillers yesterday, but I liked them a little too much, so I decided not to take anything today, and I feel icky.  Plus, the gaping hole in my jaw hurts. I can see how people get hooks on those things. 

This is my 2nd attempt of the day.  The first one I tried to be really careful and draw everything out and pre-mix the colors and, of course, it turned out awful, so I wiped it and then painted this one really quickly, without drawing it out and using only one brush.  That's usually how it works.  Once I stop thinking, good things happen. 

Meadow at Trout Pond

Meadow at Trout Pond

8" x 10" oil on wood panel

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This is the first of my Trout Pond Recreation Area paintings from my day off on Monday, May 13th. Before I painted, I hid my easel behind a tree (not that I really needed to) and hiked a few miles into the mountains with my dog, Rainey.  The whole area is spectacular - Trout Pond is a limestone sinkhole, the only natural lake in WV, and there are tons of cliffs and rock features to explore. I also love seeing native plants that are supposed to grow wild in Fairfax County, where I live, but are choked out by unending construction and invasive plants. I have native geranium maculatum that I bought and planted in my garden at home, but I had never seen it in the wild until my hike around Trout Pond. 

This was a highly enjoyable painting to paint, which is not always the case. Afterward, I stretched out on a bed of pine needles on the hillside to the right of this image and I felt like the silence was massaging my brain. The sound of a breeze through the pines is more beautiful than anything I'll ever paint. Here's another action shot:

Chimney Rocks

Chimney Rocks

8" x 10" oil on panel

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This is part of Chimney Rock, located in Rock Cliff Lake, one of two lakes/ponds in the Trout Pond Recreation Area in Wardensville, WV. The other body of water is Trout Pond, which is the only natural lake in West Virginia, formed out of a limestone sink hole. During a family hiking trip to the recreation area in December, I noted several potential sites and couldn't wait to come back for some painting. 

I'm out of practice, though, and had a tough time keeping up with the changing light and simplifying the infinite details, so it might have gotten a little muddy.  The camera also had a tough time getting the highlights right, so I think it looks better in person.  Here's an action shot:

Abstract Tabletop

 

Abstract Tabletop

12" x 12" oil on board

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I almost called this one, "The Struggle." This is what I'm up against if I decide to do a little painting on the sun porch after a grueling virtual school planning day. All manner of games and cards and buzzers, pencils and papers must be cleared before I can start. Luckily, I didn't know what I wanted to paint anyway, so I painted the tabletop. 

I'm weird and maybe this is what makes me an artist but I'm drawn to random arrangements and trying to find balance in them (maybe that makes them not truly random?) Whether or not true randomness exists and whether or not I captured it in this painting is debatable.  But, I actually had fun painting, despite the clutter. 

Orchid

 

Orchid

8" x 10" oil on board

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Painted in the dregs of winter - late January. I liked the contrast of the warmth inside with the cool outside and the way the cool, blue light was hitting the leaves and the windowsill. This orchid rarely gets any water but it somehow sprouted some flowers a few weeks after I painted it. 

Hills of Chiapas

 

Hills of Chiapas

16" x 20" oil on canvas

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Most of the paintings I've completed this year have been painted outdoors. But, it was raining today and the kids were away on a playdate so I decided to work from a photo. 

The image is from a 2014 road trip through Mexico that started in Mexico City and ended in Tulum. We explored six different cities and drove well over 1200 miles.  The photo that I referenced was taken somewhere between San Cristobal De Las Casas and Palenque in the State of Chiapas. The Sierra Madre reach over 13000 feet in this stretch, and I'd guess that we were close to that altitude. 

I often wonder if I'd have the guts (or stupidity) to complete the trip again. It was the greatest adventure of my life, but that's because it was my first road trip outside of the US and I was naive and awestruck.  I didn't even speak Spanish at the time.  I made a list during the trip of all the crazy things we saw and experienced, but it's too long to include here.  

One thing is for sure - if I did do the trip again, I'd add a stop between San Cristobal De Las Casas and Merida.  That leg is 14 hours WITHOUT the pretty serious earthquake that knocked out power and caused mudslides, rock slides, and road and bridge collapses.  Add to those setbacks a non-functioning cigarette lighter that was supposed to be charging our GPS, and a serious case of Montezuma's revenge and...you get the picture.  It is a literal miracle that we found our hotel in Merida.  The GPS had been dead for 400 miles.  The paper map we had did not even show the street that our hotel was located on.  Yet, we arrived.  We arrived without even searching...I honestly can't explain how it happened. 

I've been thinking about this painting ever since. I just didn't think I had the skill to make it turn out the way I wanted it to. I'm still not sure, but that's the reason I keep painting and documenting in this blog.  Year fifteen starts in four days.  I do have a lot of paint leftover after this one - maybe I'll squeeze in one more.  Pretty sure I'd do the trip again. 

Haiku

 

Haiku

6" x 6" oil on board

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November light fades

Above, crow flecked clouds scurry 

On winter's approach

The Big Rock(s)

 

The Big Rock(s)

9" x 12" oil on board

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"The Big Rock" is what my kids call this section of Daniel's Run Park.  So called because there is a fairly large boulder that they climbed back when the boulder probably seemed a lot larger than it does now. The path here follows a ten foot fence lined with barbed wire with signs pointing out that the area is under video surveillance. It's a strange area that reminds me of the Hawkins National Laboratory from Stranger Things. I'm not sure how the giant boulders got there - there are no other boulders in the park that I've seen, and they seem to be purposely placed in ascending size.  

My plan was to paint the largest boulder which is farther up the hill, but it was mostly in shade and didn't look as appealing as these three smaller boulders that line the path. I did three paintings, but this is the only one that was worth keeping. 

Painting slivers of light in the forest is extremely difficult. The light seems to change twice as quickly as it does in an open space such as a field and within 5 minutes, the light and shadows were completely different from my initial sketch. My first painting was a failure because I tried to adjust to match the changes, which made everything muddy because I was painting over the original drawing. This painting was more successful because I sketched everything out and made notes or little dots of paint to show what the light looked like and then basically quit looking at the scene because it was no longer anything like the original sketch. In fact, it was completely in shade.  See photo below.  

The 3rd painting was also a failure and then I got a text from Sarah that she and the kids were heading my way.  When they got there both kids remarked that the boulders were not as big as they remembered them to be.  

Even More Blue Chairs

 

8 x 10" oil on board

Even More Blue Chairs

I painted the first version of this painting in the backyard with my daughter, Camlin.  I didn't like it so I scraped it off with a palette knife.  But then I liked the way it looked after I had scraped it. Did I like it enough to post it? That, I also tossed around in my head.  Ultimately, I decided that it's part of the progression, so here it is.  Plus, my aunt Enice, who may be the only person who reads this blog, said she liked it :) Thanks, Enice!  This is also the first painting I've done of the chairs since we had to cut down the ninety year old Japanese Maple that used to sit directly behind them - I put the chairs in their current spot to hide the massive stump.  The tree was killed by an infestation of ambrosia beetles that target trees that are already in a weakened state. The arborist who examined the tree said he thought it was weakened by the cicada outbreak in 2021 and then the beetles moved in, bored into the bark, and turned it to sawdust. Heartbreaking. I didn't achieve the colorful, happy tone that I set out to achieve on this perfect summer day in the backyard with my daughter.  Maybe the ghost of this beautiful tree had something to do that that. 

Yoda's Barn

Yoda's Barn

8" x 8" oil on board

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This is one of the barn's at Vance's Country Guest House in McDowell, VA, where we've spent the week after the 4th of July for the past five years. It's called Yoda's barn because there's a grey cat named Yoda that lives in the barn that my kids are obsessed with.  It's a wonder the cat comes around given how much my kids like to pick it up and mess with it.  However, putting food out in the barn is one of the many chores the kids are responsible for while staying  at the farm, so I guess that's why. I'm not a huge fan of cats - they make my nostrils close up - so of course it rubs itself all over me and jumps on my lap anytime I'm sitting in the yard. Even so, I wish I was sitting in that yard right now.  You can see Yoda creeping toward me in the photo below. 

Low Water Bridge - State Route 612 III

 

Low Water Bridge - State Route 612 III

8" x 10" Oil on board

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I'll let the photo below make my excuses for me.  The guy in the blue chevy truck with the camper top had given up and Rainey went under the car shortly after I took the photo of my easel. I stayed mostly dry because I was under the rear door of my car but rain was blowing in on my easel and board and it was getting cold. I actually like this painting, though.  It's a little abstract and I like the colors and the mountain peaking through in the upper right. I hope I haven't complained too much about standing by a river and painting one of my favorite spots on earth.  I really think it's what makes life worth living. 

Low Water Bridge - State Route 612 II

Low Water Bridge - State Route 612 II

8" x 8" oil on board

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Sure, I said painting a scene a second time lets you see things you didn't see the first time, color mixtures are realized, values, etc. But...the rain...the old man in his blue chevy truck with the camper top, who could have parked on the other side of the road instead of directly in your line of sight...excuses.  It was really enjoyable, actually. And there are things I like more about this painting than the last.  But painting ripples in a river is hard and clearly I need more practice at it.   

Low Water Bridge - State Route 612

Low Water Bridge - State Route 612

8" x 8" oil on board

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These next three posts may not do well to prove my point about the benefits of painting a scene multiple times...this might be the best of three and it was the first.  But, I blame that on the increasingly heavy rain that once again held off until the very moment I broke out the easel. I guess you would call this river crossing a low-water bridge, although you actually have to drive through the river to get from one side to the other.  But there is concrete underneath, so I guess that counts as a bridge? Route 612 cuts across Summers Mountain and connects Bullpasture River Road to Cowpasture Road; a "shortcut" if you're heading back to route 250, headed toward Staunton, VA. It's long and winding and there's really no reason to take the road unless you have property up there or you're adventure riding like we did back when my brother first got his driver's license.  One time we popped a tire when we were halfway over the mountain and we didn't have a tire iron to change the tire.  We waited a looooong time before finally walking miles back to Cowpasture Road and waiting some more for someone to come by.  In addition to the rain making things difficult, a guy pulled up and parked DIRECTLY in front of me on the other side of the river.  He had to have seen me...So I had to crop him out of the painting.  Imagine his blue chevy truck with a camper top in the middle right, in front of that tuft of grass. Excuses.

Updated photo with frame: