Well, okay- I cheated just a bit, I'm posting this after the painting has been completed, so it's not "technically" a Work-In-Progress…..but doing it this way gives you a better view of the process. So- look over my shoulder…this will be a 9"x12" Oil on canvas-covered panel.

After my camping trip to the Craggy Gardens area, I've been flooded with ideas and images for new paintings and it's hard to settle on one. But this one of the wild Flame Azalea seems clearest in my mind, so I decided to start with it.

The original photo is one of those rare images that could stand alone as is:

But- it needs to be compressed a little to express the lushness that comes across in person, and to fit the 9"x12" format I've chosen. (I have a frame that will work beautifully with these colors) I pulled the original photo into Photoshop and cut and pasted and shifted the blossoms and leaves around until it all seemed to "click into place"…

I use a standard palette of warm & cool versions of the primaries plus Titanium White and Dioxazine Purple- notice there's no Black. I use Dioxazine Purple or Magenta to mix my darkest colors because I've found that using Ivory Black or Jet Black seems to kill the color, sucking the very life from it. By mixing your darker tones, you'll find the shadows have more vibrancy to them. And, if you'll notice- true Black and true White are rare in nature….

 I often tone my canvas, but I'm anxious to launch into this one, so I'm not even stopping to sketch first- I'll sketch directly on the canvas with my Cad Lemon. I'm using Odorless Mineral Spirits as a medium, and notice that my paint puddle is very "sloopy"- the consistency of heavy cream. This will help it to "set" fast enough that my brush won't lift the color as I work over it.

My palette and the sketch with my print out as reference:

Did you notice- even though I've worked with the layout, I decided to add a bit of curve to the branch on the right side as I sketched it in. I thought it needed just a bit more movement.

Starting with the background, I applied paint with no concern for detail, which would distract from the focus point- the blossoms. The background should just set the stage for the star of the show- the vibrant azaleas. I also don't completely mix my colors on the palette, which could result in a very flat rendering. My greens often have a ribbon of yellow or blue running through them. I work all across the background at once so neither side seems more blue or more green than the other. For consistency, each area of a painting should have at least a touch of all the colors, except the blossom colors. I want them to "pop" from the background, so keeping the oranges and reds out of the background tones will help achieve that separation.

 Ahh- the "Messy Stage"! I hate to pause work at this stage, because when I come back to the painting I always get that initial shock of "What was I thinking??" When viewers see this stage they're often just a little horrified- thankfully here in the South, they always manage to say something nice!

The background nearly complete, I began on the blossoms. I worked on them separately because I didn't want to muddy the clear, crisp blossom colors with the deeper, darker leaf colors. In fact, I completely wiped my palette clean to mix the oranges and yellows and picked up a couple of clean brushes.

Isn't it amazing how much life springs from the painting as soon as all the stamens are added to the blooms! Suddenly all those nondescript patches of color are defined as azaleas. At this point, I'm fairly sure the painting is complete, but to be sure, it will be placed on my mantle where I can "live with it" for a few days to see if it's missing anything or any adjustments need to be made.

The frame I had in mind works perfectly, its brown and gold tones nicely complementing the vivid flowers and echoing the woods beyond-

Flame Azalea

9"x12" Oil $525.00

It was a different way to celebrate the Fourth of July: my brother & sister-in-law, her brother and I piled into a car for a trek to the top of Potts Mountain, north of Roanoke. It was just this time of year several years ago that we mingled my parents' ashes and spread them there…but instead of being a sad day, that had turned out to be incredibly special, as the rugged mountaintop was covered in brilliant wildflowers and loaded down with ripe berries of every type.

(Try to mentally delete the powerlines…)

This visit was a nice one also- aside from Karen's surprise slide down part of a shale-sided hillside- and the photos have inspired several new painting ideas. Oh- to live long enough to paint everything that's clamoring to be painted!!

Simple wildflowers at the roadside-

Wild Columbine

A mystery wildflower to look up-

And this fellow- an Indigo Bunting- sang the prettiest song  just for us (or so it seemed) as we wandered through the wildflowers, enjoying the black raspberries.

Some of the best adventures start with dirt roads.

We ended the evening with the most wonderful meal outdoors, entertained by all the booms of the town fireworks and the pops of local kids firecrackers- and a really impressive fireworks display at an apartment complex, just visible through the trees. But best of all was Karen's box of grocery store fireworks, set off one by one in the driveway. After every little rocket was lit and oohed over, we opened the very last package, a thin box with 5 sticks. We each took one and lit it, expecting sparks…..nothing but a thin wisp of smoke.

"What kind of sparklers are these?"

"What is this?? Oh! It's incense- it was all made in China, afterall."

"No…now wait a minute. That just can't be right….look at the box."

And I'll be darned- they weren't dud-sparklers or weird odorless incense at all- they were a "safety light" for lighting the fireworks! I think we all laughed till we cried- the joke had definitely been on every one of us!!

The Fourth is always the best time to reflect on the special country we are blessed to live in: it's unique beauty; the richness of its crazy diverse population; and of course, its freedom and the sacrifices many have made to protect it. God bless the U.S.A.

After a few days spent deep in the woods with the old growth trees, I got my mojo back.

This is the stream (full of little wild trout!) that flowed past my campsite- and talked in garbled tones all night…

It took a day or so to let the stresses of Life fade, to be replaced by cool mountain breezes and spongy-soft mosses underfoot. The lush green-ness of the woods was almost intoxicating. And I'd nearly forgotten how alive a mountain breeze can seem- almost like another forest creature, they slip and play, running along the treetops then dipping low to tousel the ferns. My friend Jan took me on her tiny sailboat on Lake Winnepesaukee once and showed me how to "read the breezes"-scooting fast along the water, she was always watching for the riffles that showed where the air currents traveled. Anticipating their movements, she would place her little boat to catch the leading edge of a breeze and then off we'd go- shooting along as though riding a wave. What fun! And now, sitting at my little camp, watching the breezes in the treezes (hee- couldn't resist), I imagined how a hawk might anticipate the coming breeze and use it to propel himself over a ridge….

A thought that again came to mind as I got a quick but good glimpse of a Peregrine Falcon, as he soared in front of my car to almost casually tuck his wings into an incredible stoop down into the valley of the Black Mountains shown in the photo above.

I had just left Craggy Gardens, which, yet again, I'd missed in full bloom.  I had actually been greeted in the parking lot with that one line that makes all fishermen cringe, "You shoulda been here Sunday…!" *sigh*

But the mountain top, or "bald" as it's called, was so beautiful, even sans blossoms, that the visit didn't disappoint. Imagine- there were once elk and woods buffalo here! Actually, in a week or so when all those blueberries come ripe, there will be quite a lot of bears there…..

For .8 mile up trail to the pavilion and another .8 mile down, the path is completely covered in a natural laurel/rhododendron arbor.  Very ethereal….the fern-filled woods, gnarled big trees and dappled sun through the twining branches overhead  just seemed pulled straight from one of the Hobbit movies.

And although the rhododendron were past, there were still lots of mountain laurel and the occasional flame azalea- the entire area seemed to be an incredible garden, far more stunning than anything planned by man.

This is Mountain Laurel-

And this is a stray Catawba Rhododendron blossom along the covered path.

The path behind the pavilion still had lots of blooms.

And what better way to end a day in the NC mountains than with a sunset that rivals any from out West-

After just a few days of being surrounded by such wild beauty, my mind is rested and rejuvenated, and even better- I'm filled with painting ideas and images that I'm anxious to commit to canvas and paper. I've begun work on a Flame Azalea, and will post a WIP (Work In Progress) after it's done, which should be very shortly.

If you can manage to slip away to the mountains….do so, it'll do you a world of good! 

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”  John Muir

Ummm okay…okay, get ready…

Readyyy…..

Now!

NOnono no wait. Wait……

NOW!

NO, No not yet…not yet, wait- I gotta tie my shoe……..wait…

Okay, NOW!!