(Take Note:
for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new
postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an
actual copy of the new blog posting as the email. As this does not show the images of the
paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the
latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting
itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the
paintings at their best.)
Sunday, September 10, 2017 to Friday, September
15, 2017; to the Tetons ... sort of, Part 2.
C1641
“Evening Sage”
Oil Painting
on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel
6” x 8”
Sold
Note: the
painting is not yet signed in the photo above, but will be soon.
 |
| 1st Light on Grand Tetons, 23 miles distant, from my campsite. |
 |
| Morning light on Mount Leidy. |
 |
| Sage brush Flat is out of sight between me and Mount
Leidy. |
Sunday:
the second smokeless day in a row! Hope
it keeps up. Even though there was some
cloud about, and a few droplets that developed into nothing, I was able to top
up my AGM battery, with my suitcase solar array, from 78% to 91% capacity, by
days end. It seems to have still slowly
charged even during a lengthy, cloudy spell; I will have to keep an eye on that
to see if that truly is the case. Got
some photo processing done in the morning, which brought my battery down to 77%
before I set up the solar. I would have
set it up earlier, but it really was a cloud cover at that time. Then got started on a small Oil in the
afternoon. By sunset the cloud had
dissipated, and the silhouette, of the Tetons against the twilight was
absolutely lovely. And now, the stars
are out and I’m watching Scorpio slowly sinking into the southwest, as I
earlier watched Jupiter disappear behind the South Teton. Saturn is between Scorpio and Sagittarius,
which is trailing the Scorpion. M7, an
open cluster off the tail of Scorpio, touched the summit of Mount Leidy, and
then slid down its western slope, eventually disappearing behind the western
spur.
 |
| The
Aspens are beginning to turn. |
 |
Again
those rays appearing opposite the Sun,
which is rising in this case. |
Monday:
an almost cloudless day … all day. There
was a slight haze before day’s end, which I believe was smoke, according to my
throat. Jupiter set dim and red for the
last few minutes, during which time I used binoculars. The stars are bright, but not quite as bright
as last night, but wonderful nevertheless.
I spotted Jupiter when twilight was still quite bright, and as I was
enjoying the afterglow a bright meteor fell into the still bright West … it
would have been spectacular if it had fallen in the dark after twilight’s
end. I have never seen a meteor against
that bright of a sky. Another painting
completed today, inspired by yesterday’s early morning cloud shrouding the tops
of the Grand Teton and Mount Owen, but with a bright middle distance, full of
sunlight and foreground in cloud shadow, throwing the bright area into relief
against the shadowed Tetons.
 |
Chipmunk stuffing its cheeks …
gather ye seed-heads while ye may,
little guy, for we all know … “Winter is Coming.” |
 |
| In the Aspen Grove. |
 |
| A settled Camp. |
 |
| My
view for several days. |
Wednesday:
A dawn rain cleared the atmosphere, displaying the distant Tetons to at their
best since arriving at this campsite.
The day was then clear enough to put out my solar array until about
15:00, when the showers that had been passing by to north and south finally
headed my way; I got the solar put away just in time. Almost finished the next painting of “Evening
Sage,” but will finish it in the morning. Showers are expected tomorrow as well.
 |
| After
the Dawn Rain. |
 |
| Tetons,
fresh & clear. |
 |
| Looks
to be a nice day. |
 |
| Light
& shade on the Tetons. |
 |
Then
showers pass by both north & south
and eventually on me. |
 |
| Evening
showers on Mount Leidy. |
 |
| And
an interesting end to an interesting day. |
 |
| Ditto. |
 |
| And
then a new day. |
The
photo sequence in this post, shows how a few days in one place allows me to get
a feel for a place, and all the variations in lighting and weather that I
experience, and that may lead to further paintings.
Friday: Snow in the mountains forecast, so I’m
heading for Jackson Hole and the Tetons.
But first I went to Lily Lake, a couple more miles into the mountains
from my campsite, and took a few photos from inside my truck … an anti-rain
tactic. Then back out the nine miles to
the highway, filled my water bottles at the campground there, and stopped into
the Ranger Station a quarter mile up the road to pick up a vehicle use map of
this National Forest … then on into Jackson 35 or so miles down the road. The rain stopped on the way there. I spent the afternoon in the library, after which
I spent about half an hour getting a feel for the historic downtown area. Superficially it reminded me of Aspen, but I
never got to walk around downtown Aspen, since I never found a parking place. I got the feeling, even from the confines of
the driver’s seat, that Aspen was a bit ‘snooty’, as someone I met here in
Jackson said … I agreed. Jackson is a
bit smaller, but has a lot of Galleries and interesting shops, and the people
seem more laid back … not poseurs. I may
be doing Aspen a disservice, and perhaps I may someday get the chance to
rectify my impressions. But they are different
places when all is said and done, and both do seem to have their own sense of
community.
 |
| Somewhere
out there lies Mount Leidy. |
 |
| Lily
Lake, on Flagstaff Road. |
 |
| Autumn
Aspen at Lily Lake. |
 |
| Mountain
mist on the other side of the road. |
 |
| Sagebrush
Flat from just below my recent campsite. |
There will be a few days until my next post as I will be painting and photo-reconnaissance of the Tetons and Yellowstone, before I move on south.
The pigments used
were:
Imprimatura: Rublev Ercolano
Red;
Drawing: W&N Cobalt
Blue;
Painting: W&N
Venetian Red, Cobalt & Ultramarine Deep Blues, also a touch of Cerulean,
Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale;
Rublev:Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Ercolano Red,
Purple Ochre & Lead White #1.
