Autumn Willows & the Grand Tetons.

(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.)

Friday, September 15, 2017_Sunday, October 1, 2017; Into Jackson Hole and the Tetons Range.

C1642

“Autumn Willows & the Grand Tetons”

(Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming)

Oil Sketch on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

5” x 7”

Click here to make this your Own

As you know from a previous post, I finally trundled into Jackson Hole on Friday, September 15th and immediately had a dusting of snow on me that night.  I mean, one day it’s 80°F and a couple of days later it’s Winter with snow falling and below freezing temperatures at night.  I expected it all to pass over within a few days, but heavier snowfalls occurred a couple more times during the following week, one of which I wrote about.  I spent all of the following week in the library, catching up on photo processing & filing, blog-work, emails and assorted PC work.  I also dabbed about town checking out the  Galleries & Shops, even though it was mostly just window shopping; I managed to get an offcut of leather for free, to make a case for my fork, knife & spoon set, that I have had since I ‘were a wee lad,’ the case for which has finally been falling apart, and has been held together with duct tape for the past 18 months.  Could I find a case that i might adapt for the purpose?  Not in all these months.  Now I need to find some time to work on it.  

Even though the library took up so much time, I was able to get a certain amount of photo-recon accomplished, while to-ing & fro-ing from my campsites up above Curtiss Canyon & town, and also in the mornings around camp.  Curtiss Canyon is on the eastern side of Jackson Hole, and thus in the Gros Ventre Range (pronounced ‘Gro Vaunt’, in these parts), and with views of the Tetons across the valley.  Now that I’ve finally begun exploring the National  Park itself, with extensive photo-recon, and painting, I am even more impressed with the area.  The Teton Range is one of the finest series of peaks that I have seen, reminiscent of the Swiss Alps; only the High Peaks of the Wind River Range on the west side might compare, or perhaps the Sierra Nevada of California, which I’ve not yet seen.

And there is wildlife to be seen too(!): Bison, Elk (the same as Red Deer in Europe, although ours are larger … in Oregon, larger still), Pronghorn Antelope, and one cow Moose.  Oh, and wild people too who brake suddenly and swerve to the side of the road, without warning, leaping out of their vehicles, cameras in hand, to click away at the hard-pressed wildlife studiously ignoring the clickers.  I have clicked away myself, but have pretty much avoided the sudden braking and swerving … I have usually seen the hap-hazard parking along the roadsides well in advance for me to sedately slow down and calmly choose my parking spot for my clicking endeavors … many times without needing to leave my vehicle.  I have heard coyotes in Curtiss Canyon, but have yet to see them or the Wolves or Bears that make this area their home.  Oh, I did see a nonchalant Red Fox, lying on a rock not 15’ from the roadside, as I drove slowly drove through Jenny Lake Campground last Monday.  I managed four photos, two of which were rushed as he decided to move off after my two shots while he still lay on the boulder.  

As I write this I am camped at dispersed site #2 on Shadow Mountain, seven miles from the main Visitors Center at the south end of the Park, and with the rain just beginning to fall.  It will turn to snow sometime later in the night, and the temperature will only get a couple of degrees above freezing tomorrow.  I am going to attempt to post this blog entry from my phone, as I have intermittent 4G, but a weak signal.  Not many photos, I’m afraid.  

It is now two days later, Monday, and in the intervening time there have been intermittent snow showers (continuing throughout today), and I saw a young bull moose not a mile down the road as I was leaving camp.  I was going to try posting this last night, but I was not able to access the Internet.  

Mt. Moran from near Moosehead Ranch.

Storm over Mount Moran.

Stormlight on the Gros Ventre side of the valley.

Storm over the Tetons.

Afternoon … Grand Teton.

Of course the Tetons were named by the Mountain Men in the very early 1800s (think Leonardo di Capprio as Hugh Glass in “the Revenant,”), many of whom were French Canadians, and means ‘tits,’ and the biggest of them all, the Grand Teton … ‘Big Tit’ ... all I’ve got to say about that is pretty gnarly tits … those Mountain geezers were out there … perhaps a bit too long … one might think.

Well ... posting this from my phone is really trying, especially getting the photos into the mix ... luckily a flock of Juncos just flew in and are pecking around in the bare patches between clumps of melting snow, providing a calm in this storm of blog posting from this small device!!

Camping above Sagebrush Flat & distant view of the Tetons.

(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.

1^st 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.

Snow on the Mountains at Jackson Hole.

September 22, 2017; Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Yesterday morning, September 21^st.

So … I am posting this in real time, and will get back to the proper sequence of events with the next posting.  Last Friday I came out from my northern Wind River Range campsite, with a view of the Grand Tetons 23 miles away (see the next two posts when they are posted), because there was a chance of snow … chance of SNOW(!) … I mean it was 75ºF the day before, on the 14^th of September!!!  So I had the foresight to dig out my long-johns and light Winter boots (as opposed to my super heavy duty Winter boots), even though it was 75ºF.  Good thing, since it was in the forties Fahrenheit on the Friday, and wet and even though I didn’t put the long-johns or boots on, they were to hand when needed.  I toddled on down to Jackson Hole, and posted on my blog (which I’ve been doing for the past week, amongst other PC work), and that night found a campsite up in the Gros Ventre Range on the east side of Jackson Hole (the Teton Range being on the west side).

View northeast from my camp.

I expected a few flurries and a dusting of snow, which is what we got, and then back to warmer temperatures.  But the cooler weather has remained and on Wednesday night a Winter Storm Warning was issued for 8 to 18 inches in the mountains above 8500’!  I was at 8570’ that last Friday, but at 7913’ ever since.  And at my altitude I found about 4” on my vehicle on Thursday morning … the 21^st September(!) … 1^st day of Autumn(!!).  I was only worried about getting down the mountain … I didn’t want to slide over the edge and go rolling down the mountainside, but I needn’t have worried, as the ambient temperature of the gravel road, melted off the snow, and so it was not a problem.  I did however go slower than normal as I didn’t want to hit any slippery mud sections and disappear over the side through negligence.  Of course 1900’ below it was only a cold rain in Jackson.  I went back up last night and more snow this morning, but it was warmer this morning.  I do love it though, these variations in weather; it makes for a wider range of subject matter for future works.  It is interesting that the first snows have fallen, yet so many of the deciduous trees still are green, and even up on the mountain, the Aspens have yet to reach their prime.

Ambient road temperature keeps the snow down … only one pick-up truck has passed by.

The long-johns did go on last Saturday, and the Winter boots, only on Wednesday night.  When the cloud clears, I am looking forward to serious recon of this area with all the new snow on the mountain tops.  I shall take a few days to do so, hopefully a painting or two, buzz briefly through Yellowstone (much fewer visitors due to the weather), and then head down to the four corners region … to the Europeans, that is where the States of Colorado, Utah, Arizona & New Mexico all connect.  Warmer still at this time of year.  So here are a few photos of the snow.

The lower slopes of the Tetons in sunlight to the west,
below the cloud above me.

Close up view … I think that is the Grand Teton.

Cloud rising.

Is it clearing or is that just a sucker hole
(Portland-speak for ‘a break in the cloud that suckers you into believing it is going to clear’)

On the down the mountain.

Oh! … more sucker holes?

The first dispersed campsite up the mountain …
this guy is hard-core; note glimpse of hammock under the tarp to the right.

And down on the valley floor with the outskirts of Jackson in the distance.