Summer Forest

12x16", Oil on Linen.  This scene reminds me of the heady herbal sage-like perfume of the sun-warmed wild yarrow that scents the air in the late summer in the high desert chaparral and forest areas of Eastern Oregon.  It also reminds me of the cottontail rabbits that I almost always see when out painting in this area.  

Mountain Road

From a recent camping trip in the Hells Canyon Wilderness. 14x11", Oil on Linen.  Available at Holton's Gallery. 

Imnaha Canyon Morning

A small study painted near the Buckhorn area, on the Imnaha Canyon rim in the Hells Canyon Wilderness. The silence in a location like this is amazing, only the sounds of mountain bluebirds, a few crickets and bumblebees. The stars are dazzling with the total lack of light contamination. It seems little changed from the days when the Nez Perce roamed the area. Sightings: elk, bluebirds, a jackrabbit and a coyote pup.  6x4", Oil on Linen.  

Imnaha Afternoon

I painted this study yesterday late afternoon. It certainly was breathtaking to be looking down upon the Imnaha River like this. This viewpoint on Grizzly Ridge is more than 3000 feet above the canyon floor. The temperature was in the 90's on the floor and about 70 degrees on the ridge. This is the view looking north from Hells Canyon through Imnaha Canyon toward Imnaha and the Big Sheep Canyon. The ridge on the other side of the canyon is called the Sheep Creek Divide. The road up here is a narrow single lane gravel road with a few turnouts and lots of washboards on the steeper sections. The drop offs on the side of the road are impressive; if a car went off the road it may never be found in some places. I would also like to paint the view looking south if I can get back up this way again soon. Study 10x6", Oil on Linen.

Hells Canyon Morning

I painted this view this morning a couple of steps from my tent while camping in the Hells Canyon Recreation Area. The elevation is about 6600 feet or so according to the Forest Service topo map. It was a lovely view to contemplate while drinking my morning coffee. The wind was howling most of the night on top of this ridge (Summit Ridge), but it was fairly calm this morning. This view is looking east into Hells Canyon; in the first draw runs Saddle Creek while the Snake River is down there somewhere in the main canyon area. The mountains in the distance are the Seven Devils in Idaho. Makes me wish I had a trail horse and a pack mule to explore the area. Study 10x8", Oil on Linen.

Random Stuff

I haven't had much luck lately getting out to paint. Yesterday morning was overcast so I decided to paint in the afternoon, but instead spent it in the ER where my husband was getting stitches for a bicycle sprocket gashing and subsequent fall, not a good day for him. This morning it was both very smokey and very overcast and it doesn't seem to be clearing. I ventured out to scout on the prairie a little bit anyway and have a vague idea where I might try next, near the Imnaha River Canyon which runs near the Snake River Hells Canyon. It is a bit of a drive, an hour of washboard gravel roads, which is why I haven't painted out that way yet. This morning I came unnervingly close to hitting a coyote with my car, it somehow miraculously was unscathed. I stopped in a few places to take some photos and in one spot a large prairie dog ran up to within a couple feet of me to check me out. He seemed totally unafraid of me, like a squirrel in a park, but out here he couldn't be looking for a treat. It is possible he had never seen a human before up close. There is a rare home out on the prairie (ok in 40 miles this morning I saw one), but a person needs to be willing to live completely off the grid. Apparently in eastern Oregon the population was larger 100 years ago than it is today. There are a large number of abandoned old homesteads sprinkled around; it must have been a pretty hard-scrabble existence especially in the long winters. It might be why the Roosevelt Elk are so revered in this area; the bull elk hunting season seems to be the highlight of the year; a large bull would feed a family all winter. This was Nez Perce country, but the Shawnee name for elk, wapati, seems to be in heavy use locally. Hunters come from all over the US (and even the world) for elk season; it is definitely something to think about when hiking around here in the fall, you are probably the only person in the woods without a rifle or bow. The weather forecast for the next few days is not good, I might try something moody or I may get skunked.