Swingley Road Late Fall
9x12 oil on linen, 2023
I have changed some aspects of this painting and framed it.
In the earlier version, Swingley Road looked a bit smooth, void of ruts and rocks, its worn places and shallow gravel divots. The trees in the middle ground, although darker in my photo reference, blended into the pine ridge. My friend Bill, an accomplished painter himself, suggested a lighter tree. What a wonderful correction.
I am a deliberate painter, somewhat slow and without formula, like so many professional artists, who are able to paint more quickly than I.
I suppose this makes each of my paintings a bit more valuable.
My style is evolving and my body of work actually shows a number of styles—close detail and glazing on one. Heavy use of paint on another. Impressionistic on one; realistic and emotional on another. Very large on two paintings of bison and small on most others. I am beginning a very large painting for me—3 feet by 4 feet of one of western photographer, Barbara Van Cleve’s photographs that my husband and I bought in Montana. It is called Cowboy Country.
My friend Nancy told me Barb wouldn’t mind my trying to paint the image on the photo, so I will try.
I have two more more paintings in the hopper—meaning I am waiting for them to dry so I can begin adding paint, detail, perspective and color. Whether they will meet my own critical eye, I do not know.
But for now, here is the original narration that accompanies Swingley Road, Late Fall.
It’s late October. The aspens have leafed out. The mountains are girding for winter. The remaining orange shrubs remind us that soon, winter will arrive with its quiet, stark, inhospitable temperament.
Follow this gravel and rutted road to your left and then head downward to where the road veers right by that sliver of land illuminated by late afternoon sun.
On your left, the forest flanks the Absaroka Mountains, which provide an anchor for the steep drop-offs, the occasional moose and brown bear sightings, and the ever-present gigantic boulders that slumber by Swingley. As you climb up the dusty road, look back.
There, thousands of acres of grassland, undeveloped, cause your breath to slow in wonder.
These treats are the price one pays for driving Swingley.
Ahhhh...wk...you are most kind. Artists are their own worst enemies. I have made some progress since 2017. That I will agree. You and BJ, among a few others, have been voices of kindness and encouragement, something I will always treasure. I am trying to produce enough art to have a show in Big Timber, Montana at a local gallery. But, I am a slow deliberate painter.
I am trying to figure whose work this reminds me of--the shading/coloring suggests Edward Hopper to me, but it's more pastoral than the run of his stuff. In any case, I agree with the wise BJ--this is really first-rate stuff. I await your exhibit.