Sunday, January 11, 2009

Along the Tieton

Along the Tieton
oil on canvas, 9x12 inches

The subject is loosely based on several photos I took years ago along a twisting mountain highway through the northern Cascade Mountains, early in the snow season. The name is pronounced "Ty-eh-ton", and is the name of a river that flows down the eastern side of the Washington Cascades. I could spend a lifetime painting along this river, or taking photographs, or just hanging out. There are a million years to explore there.

Yes, there does seem to be a theme here. I did this painting sometime in December, before I did the usual pre-holiday crash and burn thing. At least that gave it a chance to dry well, so it photographed without a lot of glare.

I think that with this painting I finally began to get a feel for how I can work with oil paints in the style that feels like me.