Shadow Mountainoil on linen panel, 9x12 inches
This one was just plain fun to do. I gave myself permission to play, with no predetermined outcome. Why do my paintings always turn into mountains or water? Good question. I know the answer, and have decided it is irrelevant. It's what I paint right now.
I started here with brushes, used a palette knife to clean up an area, and ended up using knives to finish the painting because it felt right for what was emerging. I hated it for a while, but now I think I like it. The name comes from a (relatively) small mountain in Colorado near where I lived, at the headwaters of the Colorado River, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park.
There's a whole story attached to this painting, having to do with painting too early in the morning, rushing to clean up, falling painting, salad oil, dish detergent, and spending the whole rest of the day clearing ice and snow and splitting wood before the next storm. Won't go into details right now, but the painting survived, and oil paint washed out of the hair just fine after sitting all day smothered in salad oil and dish detergent under my hat. Life is just interesting sometimes.
