From Idaho's Panhandle to the Oregon Coast in 11 days

Out on the Water, Oil on Canvas   11"x14"
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The striking pastels of this cloud formation reflecting in glassy Lake Pend d'Oreille inspired me to create this studio piece after returning from my trip to Sandpoint. 

 

Transiting Pend d'Oreille, Oil on Canvas   16"x20"
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The sunsets in Idaho's panhandle were stunning and inspired another studio piece.  I wanted to incorporate a train into the design as this was a well used train route up into Canada. 

Recede To the Border, Oil on Canvas   8"x10"
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The first painting I completed on the trip was a depiction of the Selkirk mountains near Bonner's Ferry Idaho.  Bonner's Ferry is a small town of 2700 or so residents near the Canadian border way up on the Idaho Panhandle.  The evening lighting up there is gorgeous and I couldn't help but pull over to the side of the road to paint this scene.  The mountains rise precipitously from the farm land below.

Beauty Bay Overlook, Oil on Canvas   9"x12"

The next day we drove down to lake Coeur d'Alene where I was able to capture this nice little scene a few hundred feet up from the lake peering through the pines.  Much of the lake shore is privately owned here, but Patti and I were able to find this little overlook in a small state park over looking Beauty Bay.  She was quite the scout on this trip and was able to help navigate to some great painting locations.  The evening light started to create some nice warm colors on the distant hills.

Mount Hood Orchards, Oil on Canvas   12"x9"
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 The town of Hood River on the Columbia River Gorge was the next destination on our trip.  The Colombia River separates Oregon and Washington.  The town of Hood River marks the point where the rainy wet region of Oregon begins to transition to the high desert.  This makes for a windy location which makes it popular for wind surfers.  It certainly lived up to it reputation.  I was able to start a nice little painting of Mount Hood from Panorama Point.  In spring time all the apple orchards are blossoming so we were very lucky to visit during this time of year.

 The town of Hood River on the Columbia River Gorge was the next destination on our trip.  The Colombia River separates Oregon and Washington.  The town of Hood River marks the point where the rainy wet region of Oregon begins to transition to the high desert.  This makes for a windy location which makes it popular for wind surfers.  It certainly lived up to it reputation.  I was able to start a nice little painting of Mount Hood from Panorama Point.  In spring time all the apple orchards are blossoming so we were very lucky to visit during this time of year.

 

Cliff Dancers, Oil on Canvas   6"x8"
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We concluded our trip with a visit to the Oregon coast.  Many of the little towns are still working fishing villages which is quite refreshing to see.  The rocks and cliffs on the coast have a rugged beauty and it is probably one of the greenest places I have ever visited.  This little painting is called 'Cliff Dancers' which refers to the pines cling to the cliffs and the gulls swooping down from various directions.  This location is Sunset Beach in Cape Arago State Park.  The cool thing about the Oregon Coast is that it is undeveloped as you can't privately own the beach. 
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=66

 The last part of the trip was dedicated to the opening reception of Expressions West 2014 at the Coos Art Museum.  I had two painting in the exhibition which included 60 or so paintings from 40+ artists in the Western US.  I was honored to be selected to exhibit two of my works in the show: Summer: Alhambra Creek And Jess Valley pasture.
http://www.coosart.org/
There were some very talented artists exhibiting in the show.  The gallery has quite a nice exhibition area.  We also got the chance to check out the Prefontaine Gallery which permanently exhibits Steve Prefontaine memorabilia at the Museum.