alder

My 17th tree in the month of trees last November were a stand of alder.  This one has a crafty aspect to it in that I was playing with a bit of technique and came to mind because it is similar to some used on that cliff from a few days ago.  I like the way the trunks came out and I found that I rather like the rough paper.  It takes paint a little differently and for me, there's just a certain "rightness" to the way it does.

Alders Standing
watercolor on rough 100% cotton watercolor paper
14" x 20"
$175

Strawberry Peak

I painted a tree a day for the month of November (2012).  This one from the 21st is of the cliff on the north side of Strawberry Peak in Angeles NF and the trees are a bit incidental.  The reference is from a hike way back in April 2007.  It's a spot I'd like to return to, but is still closed due to the Station Fire.  The current closure expires in 10 days, so maybe it will be open again. Or they'll have another in a week or so to extend it another year, which is how it has been going.

Strawberry Peak Face
watercolor on rough cotton watercolor paper
12" x 9"
$68

Sunset Cliffs

I saw some pictures of Zion and found them inspiring, particularly the first photo in this Modern Hiker post.  Something about the trees still in their winter corpse-like state against the cliffs made me wonder.  I've been having a bit of insomnia and the brain playing with watercolors didn't help, so I got up and tried out one of those thoughts to see what would happen.  Did it work out?  Well, there is certainly potential there.  It had to dry before starting the trees, so I got some sleep.  By the time I woke up, I'd decided not to use a mixture of deep grey and black for the trees, but grind some of an ink stick to use.  The ink stick really does make a wonderful black.

Some memories of specific cliffs are bobbing to the surface, there may be more cliffs coming.

Sunset Cliffs
watercolor and ink on watercolor paper
9" x 6"
$35

Mt. Wilson

Stepping back in time quite a bit further, there is a moment of mist that felt a bit inspiring to me and I had to try something out.  We were climbing out from Valley Forge (no, not that one) up to Red Box on a late July 2007 morning after an overnight with a bit of experimental cooking and now trying to be showered and into work by 10AM... and there were the trees and the mist on the hills.  Memory says it was the trees that had to be done, but my journal suggests it was the hills.  Memory does play tricks.  The painting was done August 5th, 2007.

Mist and Pines Above Valley Forge
acrylic on canvas board
9" x 6" (uncertain)
gifted to a fellow hiker (so I only have the old and rather poor photo)

Piru Creek

One more square foot of Los Padres NF.  Completed today, this is along Piru Creek near the Smith Fork from the same hike as a couple posts before where I was trying to get myself lost but failed.  The creek was shallow, but running and full of growth.

Piru Creek Cattails
acrylic on stretched canvas
12" x 12" x 0.5"
$180

Smith Fork

The first square foot of Los Padres NF came from a hike where I made every effort to end up lost but somehow managed not to do so in November of 2012.  I made my way up the trailless, but not trackless, side of Piru Creek from the Hardluck area and came upon the iron housewares of an old cabin that was long gone.  The spot has an inholding marked on the USGS maps and is where I took the reference photo for this from.  I finished the painting on January 10th, 2013.

Eroded Hills of Smith Fork
acrylic on stretched canvas
12" x 12" x 0.5"
$180

Potrero John

The second square foot of Los Padres NF I painted came from a then recent hike up Potrero John Creek in December of 2012.  I went to see what was behind the hole in the wall where the trail starts.  I'd heard that included a waterfall, and indeed it did.  The maintained trail only goes to this popular little campground, but isn't too hard after that.  I finished painting this on January 22nd, 2013.

Potrero John Campground
acrylic on stretched canvas
12" x 12" x 0.5"
$180

Cottam Meadow

Stepping back in time, the third square foot of Los Padres NF that I painted was from a hike in Blue Canyon back in February of 2012.  Seems to me that day was an absurdly pleasant one for hiking the back country. This particular piece is part of the meadow that Cottam Camp rests beside and marks the meeting of Blue Canyon with Forbush Canyon.  A lone fence post stands in the southeast corner, presumably a remnant from when homesteading was encouraged within the Forest Reserve.  The painting was completed January 27th, 2013.

Cottam Meadow Fence Post
acrylic on stretched canvas
12" x 12" x 0.5"
$180

Whitaker Peak Road

I've been painting landscapes, generally referencing photos I've taken on my hikes.  This is my attempt to make these paintings more explicitly for sale.  It might be able to keep me in art supplies and hiking gear and (the biggest expense of all) gasoline to get there.  It might even be able to keep me out of the poor house.

So, now, to show the art and tell it's story.

This is from a hike heading up Whitaker Peak in late November of 2012.  I went in the afternoon to give plenty of time to poke around the area but not too much wait at the end to watch the sunset and the full moon rise from the peak.  A storm was expected for the following day, so clouds were moving in.  This moment comes early in the hike.  The road makes its way along the side of a local peak while a trail, once a dirt road servicing a telephone line if the map is accurate, takes a ridge route.  Whitaker Peak itself is to the left and has only a poor use trail up it.

I finished the painting April 9, 2013.  It is acrylic on a square foot of stretched canvas with half inch sides.  The sides are always painted if I'm doing the painting.  It is the forth square foot of Los Padres Forest that I have painted and, as you see, got the banner treatment.

Whitaker Peak Road
acrylic on stretched canvas
12" x 12" x 0.5"
$180