Last Part, Adirondack Publisher's Invitational

I drove for nearly 7 hours in the sun to register for my week in the Adirondacks; I checked in, moved in, and met many painters before, during and after dinner. I had come ready to paint ~ Paul Smith area is gorgeous and I was promised spectacular sunsets like the Hudson River painters had recorded.

Well, I really had come to paint, so I prepared my first oils and a small canvas on a rickety table on a 2nd floor deck. It was becoming more cloudy and overcast, but I took my chances because I was so ready to push the paint around---of course the skies would turn brilliant orange & gold, reflecting on the lake below. I chose a composition, laid in my shapes and underlying colors, waited for the spectacle of glorious color to arch into the clouds so I could fling paint at the waiting canvas at the absolute best moment of colors blasting a blinding sunset at me.

Nope, never happened. In fact the pink that did appear in the sky was so dim and fleeting that several people asked me if I made it up. Nope. But I did exaggerate the minor spectacle I witnessed, and if you have been following this, then there is no surprise that I was denied rich sunsets for the entire week.

This sweet little oil was set aside to dry, then left on the bottom of my collection. Only recently did I reexamine it, finding the simplicity, as well as my memories, strong enough to consider it for my 2012 calendar.

Listen for the Loon, oil 8x10, 2011