Near Iceberg Lake

This alpine meadow study was painted about a couple of hundred yards before Iceberg Lake, which is situated above Lake Ediza at about 10,000 feet. It was very windy that day which made it impossible to paint with an umbrella. I struggled with glare which made it difficult to judge color well, but I managed to touch it up to be close to what I was seeing. The snowfield was a fun bold element to compose with, and it is a good memory of a good day. I would love to work this one up into a larger painting.

Old White Pine

Lake Ediza is at about 9,280 feet according to my GPS unit, near the timber line. I was wandering around looking for something to paint and passed through a very old grove of hemlock and white pine. The gnarled trunk of this specimen growing out of the rocks caught my eye with the late afternoon light reflections. The mountain lumps in the background are Ritter and Banner. I will have a few more studies to post in the next few days but they need some touchup first. 

Minaret Morning

I was intrigued by the long shadows on the slope of the Minarets at this time of morning. This view was painted from the same spot as my favorite study (posted earlier). 

Looking Toward Lake Ediza Outlet

A morning view looking toward the outlet of the lake, painted from our campsite area. We had a day or two of wind early in our trip, but toward the end it was very calm, creating silky reflections on the lake.

Favorite Ediza Study

This view was painted by several of us during our stay at Lake Ediza. It was only a few feet from our campsite and was in comfortable afternoon shade near a small sandy beach. The shallow-to-deep water transition created a gorgeous color modulation. This study was one of only two that I finished on a second day instead of one session, which is usually a little risky if the weather changes. 

High Sierra High

I spent six glorious days in the high Eastern Sierra doing my two favorite things, hiking and painting, with eight fellow painters and one photographer. We camped on the far side of Lake Ediza in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, a short distance from the John Muir Trail. We hired a pack trip outfitter to take our heavy equipment, gear and beverages in on mules, while we hiked in with daypacks. We also hired a cook to keep us well fed so that all we needed to do is roll out of our tents and paint. We had fabulous weather this year (last year we had lots of hail and rain). When I return to NE Oregon midweek, I will post a few paintings and happenings. It feels good to be freshly showered and ready to sleep in a real bed! The snapshot of the Minarets above was taken near the lake outlet on the hike out. 

Cloud Patterns

I have tried to paint something like this several times and I will probably do several more studies until I finally get one that I like, hopefully by the end of the summer I will have one. Meanwhile, it is good practice at not getting frustrated, the colors, light, cloud forms and cast shadows all change so quickly. This is another one where I would like to get deeper into the more abstract patterns, I feel like I take a step closer each time.

Ponderosa and the Last of the Snow

I broke with my usual morning painting schedule to paint in the early evening because the weather was overcast in the morning, the remnants of impressive thunderstorms last night (our "fireworks"), and improved later in the day. This location is about 5000+ feet, just at the base of the steep incline of the peaks and the edge of the forest. The road ends just above this point and the only way in is to hike steep switchbacks, one of the more difficult trails into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. This particular area is interesting because there are some isolated mature Ponderosa pine and a few scraggly junipers in meadows. Only a few feet further and the forest is thick with a wide variety of trees. The snow melt is very rapid right now and the creeks (locally pronounced "cricks") and rivers are at or above flood stage. It won't be long now where there will only be snow at the highest north facing elevations. It will soon be time to hike up to a few of the alpine lakes. If I decide to sometime work this one up bigger, I'll subdue the snow in the background more. I also might paint this scene again on a day where there is more atmosphere; it was crystal clear today after the storms and I didn't want to fake atmosphere, I prefer to record what I see in a study.

Wildflowers & Pines

I ventured a little higher in elevation this morning and spotted this area with abundant wildflowers, red-violet lupine and a yellow daisy-type flower that I don't know the name of, in a pine meadow. The sunlight was very soft, filtered by heavy haze. A pair of whitetail posed in the middle of my view that I resisted the temptation to add since they would probably look too precious. An elk would have been more tempting. This is the first study I've done in a while that I am really looking forward to working up into a real painting. This is one I'd love to get lost in the abstract shapes and two dimensional surface plane of the image. I think that the time I spent with Maria Entis last week is having an influence. She has a new website, check out her work: www.mariaentis.com. Another influence from visiting Vancouver, was the art glass work of Robert Held. His studio produces a wide variety of styles, all of which are gorgeous, but here I was thinking about some of his wildflower series that seem to shimmer and glow and are very Klimt-like: www.robertheld.com.