Friday, April 15, 2011

Columbia River Gorge from Crown Point

                                            16x20                     Pastel                         $175
It's been a long time between posts, and I'll explain why later. This is a recent painting of one of my favorite spots: the Columbia River Gorge, as viewed from Crown Point in Oregon. It's a great place to view the Gorge, in all its splendor. The small rock (middle at top) is Beacon Rock, so named, and climbed, by members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The rock is on the Washington side of the river. It's still possible to climb to the top, a short but strenuous hike. The fact that we have access to all this beautiful scenery is due to one woman: Nancy Russell. She worked tirelessly to get the Gorge protected. Sadly, her life was cut short, but what a legacy!
Paintings of Oregon scenery consist of green, green and more green. Living here it's easy to see why. It's been raining so long this spring, that when the sun does finally come out it will scare people. Suffice to say, I use many shades of green in my paintings, this one is no exception.
Now, as to the long silence, I've been wearing a different hat lately. I put aside my painting for awhile to finish up a book I was writing. I have written for newspapers and magazines for a few years, but this is my first novel. It will be published shortly. More in my next post....