Boulders For Bill

One of Bill Cone's favorite subjects to paint is boulders. One of his titled "Bystanders" was even chosen "People's Choice Award" at the 2008 Napa Valley Art Festival. It was a beauty. He is always trying to get me to paint rocks and I always try to wiggle out of it. But when I saw these I had to try to paint them, a little art valentine for Bill to thank him for wanting to work with me again. Of course it is tough to live up to Bill's rock poetry. Junipers are naturally painterly trees because they are an elegant mess. One of the best things I could do to loosen myself up a bit would be to paint lots of junipers. The wind yesterday afternoon created super clean skies this morning, that phthalo turquoise-blue that I only ever see in NE Oregon. The remaining snow on the peaks is dazzling in the ultra clear air.

           The afternoon was very nice and I went out to paint again, however I did not choose well and it ended up being a disaster, trying to take in too much as usual. There are bright pink tiny-flowered fragrant wild roses frequently in the road ditches. When I first set up I thought, "cool, I have wild roses to smell while I paint". Of course then the wind veered and the lovely perfume was replaced by the smell of something decidedly dead. The aroma shift seemed to echo my painting experience. :) And then there were also the ants crawling up my legs and the Scotch thistle poking me that I can't really use as excuses for painting badly. At any rate, here it is: