I have visited this ridge above the Clackamas River near my home many times in hopes of catching an inspiring view. That finally happened early one fall morning. I loved how ground fog blanketed Clackamas River while the ridge-tops remained clear and sunny. It was both serene and exhilarating. It felt like a scene from the distant past, as if I was the first person ever there.
The inspiration and the challenge of this piece were one in the same: how to play the complementary colors and values against one another to do justice to its depth. The distant background was mostly muted grays, but the sunlit foreground was vibrant greens and golds with shaded areas that approached black. It took many layers of paint and some glazing, including deep purple over the foreground to get the yellows in the trees to dance, to do justice to the scene.