Little Mountain
1x3 foot, acrylic and spray paint on canvas.
Little Mountain is a plein air landscape painting created at Little Mountain in Mount Vernon, Washington. Known for its forested trails, rocky outcrops, and views across the Skagit Valley, Little Mountain has become a popular destination for hikers, cyclists, and outdoor enthusiasts throughout the Pacific Northwest.
My recent and current work is a continuation of the themes from my previous two pieces: taking a complex, multilayered slice of nature and distilling it into a digestible snippet. Currently, I am battling early sunsets, colder temperatures, and very unreliable light. While the sun officially sets at 4:40 PM, it gets dark in the woods much earlier. Combined with the low-light, detailed subject matter, working within these restraints is a frustrating challenge.
Day Two Update: I will need one additional session to complete this piece. While I am not fully satisfied with it yet, I plan to see the work through to the end regardless.
Update: I am returning to this location for a third week due to recent bad weather. A major storm moved through this past week, blowing off the majority of the remaining leaves. Interestingly, someone had also leaf-blown the pathways clean, which pushed entirely new textures and colors onto my subject matter. The leaves have dried further, shifting into a more ochre-grey tone. This is exactly the kind of parallel I love in my work: I am painting nature, but it is being affected by human intervention in a visible, tangible way.