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C1588
"December Rain Shower"
(Hart Mountain
National Antelope Refuge, Oregon High Desert)
Oil Sketch on Winsor & Newton Canvas Panel
5" x 7"
(Take further Note: the
images and incidents herein occurred in December 2014.)
After the
delightful though brief glimpse of the stars through the sucker holes in last
night’s cloud, the rest of the night was overcast and a quarter inch of snow
had accumulated on the truck. I was at
work finishing up yesterday’s painting by 09:00, refining the huddle of
buildings and vegetation that make up the headquarters of the National Antelope
Refuge, here at Hart Mountain. And the
rain came sweeping in … and the wind … at times obscuring the HQ, but most of
the time obliterating the distant Beattys Butte, and even the closer mass of
upland on the right where lies Lookout Point.
Upon finishing
the sketch I drove the mile to the HQ and entered the ‘Open 24/7 Visitors
Center,’ and corrected my entry in the log about how many days I had been in
the Hot Springs CG. I used the indoor
head and spent some time musing about the weather outside through the windows,
working out my best course of action.
The rain was obscuring the view of Hart Mountain, which I had considered
sketching; the rain might freeze on the descent back down to the Warner Valley,
up which I had ascended a week earlier; the rain might turn to heavy snow back
at the Hot Springs CG, and keep me there longer; so the best course of action
seemed to be descending the 1400’ back to the Warner Valley, and to camp at the
CCC campground at the base of Hart Mountain, which was still just inside the
Refuge.
Thus I gingerly
made the descent; my fears of rain freezing on the road proving unfounded, and
the driving rain had now turned to individual squalls moving periodically
across the landscape. After exploring
the as expected empty campground, I began another painting; this time of rain
showers over the Warner Valley. The view
is north from the CG with the northern extremity of Hart Mountain being the
cliffs on the extreme right of the sketch, and Poker Jim Ridge, being the lower
high ground immediately to its left; the road up to the plateau behind, and
down which I had come, lies between the two.
I’m not sure whether Poker Jim Ridge is considered part of Hart Mountain
or not, but it forms part of the same escarpment that forms the eastern edge of
the Warner Valley. I wonder how often
the lakes in this valley actually have water; I would like to see them when
that might occur, filled with wildfowl, as in times of old (actually not so
long ago, but the current extended drought, hereabouts, has aggravated the
situation). You might wonder where the
drought is, with all this talk of snow and rain in these postings, but the
accumulations have not been great, and if that which falls is rain instead of
snow the accumulated snowpack up in the higher mountains is not as normal; and
the accumulated snow pack up there is what sustains these regions, by its slow
and measured melt, during the warmer months of the year.
With dark coming
on I repaired to a roofed picnic area, with walls at one end and prepared
supper. Although windy, the main wall
blocked a good part of it, and my body the restless gusts that crept around the
barriers, so that supper was more easily managed than if I had been out in an
open site. I would finish the painting
in the morning.
Imprimatura:
Venetian Red.
The Pigments used were: Rublev Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt
Sienna, Lead White #2, with Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue, Venetian Red &
Cremnitz White.
