Sundown
Sold, Private Collection
16 x 32. Pastel on board.
There are a couple of threads of inspiration behind this piece....
Earlier this year I wanted to make a long driving trip to the upper Midwest to paint -- for the first time -- the rural areas of my upbringing (when I last lived there years ago, I did not paint). But then gas prices shot up and I got cold feet. Such a big trip seemed a bit too self-indulgent, and I compromised by making a shorter sojourn to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
Regardless, I still plan to make that journey next spring. Until then, I content myself with frequent excursions to the agricultural areas that surround State College in central Pennsylvania. This particular vista is just outside of town, and I love this area because of its unobstructed, open spaces like this.
I suspect that it must be my rural roots from southern Wisconsin that make scenes like this very attractive to me. I love the low horizon and the spare, strong silhouettes of the buildings and utility poles. You can see this theme in some of my earlier works such as Cold Country, Winter Crossing, and Down Whitehall Road.
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