Oil, 6"x8"
Collection of the Artist
The completion of this painting was a fierce battle against the elements. Wanting to paint the sunrise, I crawled out of my tent around 3:30am and made the steep hike up to the base of the towers. There was a fresh dusting of snow on the ground and a piercing chill to the breeze as the sky grew light. When I finally reached my destination, I hurriedly began painting, thinking that at any moment the clouds might lift just enough to let the sunrise illuminate the peaks above me. Instead, the wind gathered intensity and the clouds sent down new flurries of snow. The precipitation was heavy enough that my oil paints would no longer adhere to the panel. Frustrated and freezing, I scanned my surroundings for a place to retreat from the weather. I scurried down to an overhanging rock, huddled under it and was able to finish the painting after all. What a feeling of triumph that was.
