Sky Meadows in Spring

Sky Meadows in Spring, pastel on Wallis paper, 9"h x 12"w.

 

Photo of Sky Meadows Sate Park

I've been working on a couple of small pastel landscapes for the Art at the Mill 2018 Spring show. This one is based on a photo I took a number of years back when I visited one of our nearby state parks, Sky Meadows. The park is located in a beautiful area of rolling hills at the eastern base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The day was overcast, and the grass had not been mowed yet... the creamy spikes of the blooming grasses echoed the sprinkling of white of the dogwood blossoms peeking out of a thicket in a delightful symphony of greens and cream.

Sometimes a simple photo can be a great opportunity to explore composition, and for this painting I brought the edge of the grassy hill closer to the viewer to push the line of the trees forward, leaving the bluish mountain range to be seen through the emerging leaves of the trees. For the sake of comparison, below it is the photo the painting was based on.

Calm During the Storm

The Trees Before the Storm, pastel, 9" x 12."

I took some photos of my new back yard Saturday before last--there is a hollow back there where the ground drops off steeply and a rivulet of runoff has allowed this copse of tall oaks and other trees to grow lush. The trees were at the peak of their color in the early morning sun.

This past Monday morning my boss sent the word out--we should all leave at noon to get home safely before Hurricane Sandy hit our area, expected to be around 8 PM that night. As I was driving west on Route 50 the rains were coming down steadily and the gusts of wind getting stronger. I prayed that no trees or big branches would fall as I was passing underneath--there are so many old  and fragile trees along the way--or that flooding would not have closed down some of the low-lying bridges.

Oddly, it was raining less when I got to Front Royal; I guess being farther away from the coast lessened somewhat the effects of the storm. But as the afternoon progressed, the skies darkened and the wind began to howl. I knew by morning there would be few leaves left on the trees, so I was glad I'd had  chance to photograph the lovely color while it lasted.

What better way to spend a stormy evening than in the studio? My new studio has a big window overlooking the back yard. It was too dark to see much out there as I worked from my photos, snug and warm while the wind howled. It seemed wondrous to find myself in this new safe harbor after the upheaval of moving this past summer. After I had most of my painting done I went downstairs and Herb lit the gas fireplace for that extra cozy feeling.

In the morning I went in to look at my little painting and saw out the window (no surprise!) that the leaves were down and one can now see the outbuildings of the farm on the other side of the steep ravine. My newly-planted trees all came through the storm just fine, and the saffron is starting to sprout.

Herb carved our traditional jack o' lantern to display for Halloween, but disappointingly, not a single trick-or-treater came to our door. There are only a few children in our new neighborhood, so I suppose it's not done around here.