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: