Carson River Fall

Painting No. 138
Carson River Fall
Eagle Valley, Nevada
6"x 8", oil on linen
October 28, 2011

Mid-day along the Carson River, east of Carson City. It was near this location that Kit Carson and John Fremont camped during their expedition.

I don't have a lot of experience painting such bright colored trees, so this painting is something of an experiment in light control.

Truckee River Autumn

Painting No. 137
Truckee River Autumn
Floriston, California
8"x 8", oil on linen panel
October 25, 2011

The Truckee River is always cold. It's also a great place to fish. This location is near the Floriston Exit on Hwy 80, between Truckee and Reno.
The afternoon wind was blowing cold air down from the north and giving me a chill as I stood in the mountain shadow and worked quickly.

Fading Light, Stewart Indian School

Painting No. 136
Fading Light, Stewart Indian School
8" x 8"
oil on canvas
October 18, 2011

Summer is gone.
It's not coming back for a long time.
The cool afternoons and evenings of mid- Fall have invaded the Eagle Valley, and I have come back to the school to finish my series of paintings.
Why is it that we gravitate to certain scenes? There are over 80 buildings on this site, yet I find myself drawn to only a few. I walk the dirt roads that separate the old teacher housing buildings in search of a good composition, and time after time I end-up on the same corner composing one of three buildings. I have purposely decided to do all the paintings in 8"x 8" panels. This format seams to fit the box shape of the buildings and helps me to control the framimg.
The overgrown schrubs, golden Foxtail's and nearly barren trees seamed to add to the loneliness of the scene and the boarded-up emptiness of the house.