Dancing With the Light. 6x10, oil on linen panel. 2016
There is something particularly special about the light in winter in the Pacific Northwest. There are many days when the sky is completely overcast and the day is totally gray, yet sometimes the air is clear and the clouds race across the sky. Then there are those brief moments in between the two, when the heavy overcast and the light appear at the same time. That's when a kind of visual magic starts to happen as the light and clouds get locked into a dance.
As I walked on the beach yesterday I got treated to one of these displays. Sheltering from the weather behind a pile of driftwood I made a sketch and some notes in charcoal, then came back to the studio and painted from my recollection of the scene.