IMAGES THAT WON'T GO AWAY

Sometimes an image burns into your brain and you can't get rid of it until you paint it. Almost ten years ago I was painting with a group of friends in Ouray, Colorado. We had gotten up with the sunrise, ate an early breakfast and headed out to paint. I remember it being extremely cold and my teeth chattering with the first painting or two until the sun got up over the mountain and warmed things up.

I was painting down in a riverbed because there was still snow on the ground and I rarely get to paint snow. It was 38 degrees up on the road where we parked and 18 degrees down near the river where I chose to paint. Don't think I have ever been that cold while trying to paint and within fifteen minutes my paints were frozen so I did not get to finish the painting and it was too cold to wipe it off. 

The thing that captured my interest was the cold blues and purples in the shadow areas in contrast to the bright greens and yellows from the morning sun lighting up a distant hill. I took one photo before leaving the scene promising myself that one day I was going to paint that scene.
TODAY IS THAT DAY!

"Canyon Sunrise"

16" x 20" oil on canvas