From the Back Burner - Day 20 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

For today's painting, I chose another photo from Perdenales State Park. The basin that the Perdenales River runs through is wide and full of the most amazing rock formations. I spent hours climbing over huge boulders, and discovering little ponds and waterfalls among the rocks. There are warning signs posted telling people to leave quickly in stormy weather, because flash flooding can fill the basin in minutes. I've never seen a flash flood but the pictures of this very wide and deep basin completely filled with rushing river water are dramatic. Later on while hiking a trail in the campground,  I was amazed to see flood debris high overhead in the trees. On this sunny warm day, the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

River Basin - oil on canvas panel - 11x14
buy now

   

From the Back Burner - Day 9 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

A couple of years ago I visited  Fairmount  Park just outside of Philadelphia. It's a hilly, wild park with rocks, woods and ravines and a landscape vastly different from where I live in Florida.  At the entrance to the park were 3 or 4 small buildings set back a bit from the roadway. They sat  quietly in the winter day like dignified relics of a time long gone. I began to read about them and sure enough the buildings were what was left of a tiny settlement dating back to the early 1700's, and are the site where the country's first paper mill was built. The woods had grown so thick around them that it was impossible to get back far enough to get an unobstructed  photo with all the buildings in it. Even so, the photo interested me enough to try it as a painting with the quiet feel of a winter day and a time past.

An Old Homestead - oil on canvas panel - 14x11
click here to purchase

The past two days have been difficult for photography. Both this painting and the one below from yesterday, have some interfering glare. I've posted them anyway to keep up with the challenge. When the weather permits, I'll re-shoot them. The scene below is another one from Perdenales State Park.

Winter Meadow - oil on canvas panel - 11x14
click here to purchase

From the Back Burner

A few years ago I went camping with family members who live in Austin. They took us to Perdenales State Park to a campground with the most spacious sites I've ever seen. As with all places I've never seen, I was wide eyed with appreciation for the beauty of the land. Every place I turned, was material for a painting. I came upon this little cave while climbing through the rocky basin that the river runs through.  It looked like it had just enough head room to carefully fit a kayak under. I'll bet there's a story too behind the branch that looks it's propping up the boulders. I have no idea how far back the opening extends but it had enough mystery to excite my imagination.  I know I'll get back to that park with more time and a lot of canvasses.

Water Cave - oil on linen panel - 9x12
click here to purchase