Sweetwater Sky

A confession: Not everything I start painting ends up a keeper. I used to get exasperated by this reality, but after attending a recent workshop taught by an artist whose paintings I really admire, I was blown away when he casually remarked, "Oh, yeah, about half of the things I start to paint, I end up painting over with something different because they don't turn out."

Huzzah! I'm not alone!

This landscape comes from one of my favorite locations near Sweetwater, Tennessee. The panel I used was originally a vertical fall subject that didn't coalesce. So, I turned it 90 degrees and painted over it. If you look carefully at the detail view with my signature here, you'll see some of the original reds and oranges from the old "underpainting." That magic makes these do-overs fun and, ultimately, among the more satisfying works I create.