Yellowstone River

Yellowstone River

12x36

I had to hide from the wind as I painted this piece. I was up on an overlook above the river and the plains beside it, and I was sheltered a little by the hill that continued to rise behind me, but the wind was swirling and blasting and puffing all around me. I was able to use the van to get some relief, but it was still a struggle, and when I got as far as I'd gotten in the P in P below (painting in picture, is what I call these to myself), I realized that the wind had won, and I packed my painting in the van and headed off. 

For a while, I thought I might leave the painting like this, with the black sky showing above the river, but I talked to Peter and we ended up agreeing that it was too much black, too much negative space, so I filled in the sky. What do you think? Would you have left it as it is below? 

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The wind was so strong that day that Montana had put flashing signs out on the highway, warning about the wind. It was blowing my van all over the place, and so after miles of fighting it, I gave in and decided to stop early. 

I found myself in Livingston, Montana, which charmed me completely. Its historic downtown is full of interesting-looking restaurants and galleries. The buildings have an early 20th-century feel that is comfortable and funky. And there are some great signs left from that era. 

Also, Dan Bailey Fly Shop is in Livingston. We've been getting catalogs from this place for decades, and so I was thrilled to see it in person. That's it below, with the great fish sculptures over the door. More on my time in the fly shop tomorrow! 

It's hard to see in this photo, but on the hill overlooking Livingston, where many towns have the first letter of their town, or their high school football team outlined in rocks, Livingston has the outline of a trout. 

The hotel sign above was one of the cool signs left from an earlier era. And I just loved the name of the cleaning establishment below. Forgive me the crookedness of this and any other crooked photos. My computer system is refusing to straighten certain photos, and though I've tried everything I know to do, including calling Apple, there is no solution. 

Many utility boxes in Livingston are painted with art! 

Way out in Montana, in the middle of the West, I met this lovely couple - from a town not so far from  Charlottesville, Virginia! 

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Dog of the Day

Met these oldsters in a parking lot in Butte. They love the car! 

Outside Joliet

Outside Joliet

10x10

As I drove north into Montana, the mountains became more and more a part of the landscape. Snow covered their peaks, and you could tell these mountains are massive, muscular, tough. The ranges were not huge - Crazy Mountains in one direction, Pioneer Mountains in another, Tobacco Range in a third - so these were separate ranges, with different topography, different origins, probably different geography.

Even though they were far away, they began to surround the landscape, and it gave me the feeling of being very high up, very close to the sky. 

Joliet was a small, quiet town in southern Montana, the kind of place that makes you wonder what people do who live there. It was pleasant and a little old, and in the middle just spectacular scenery and incredible, clear light. 

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Above, the Absaroka Range. I wanted to go and see these mountains, and paint them, and one of my sponsors had suggested it, but storms were blowing in at the high elevations, and I just couldn't see my way clear to go. 

Here are more mountains, this time near Livingston, Montana. I painted these on my return trip.

I began to see the Yellowstone River, running alongside the highway. 

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Dog of the Day

This time, the DOD is a couple of chickens! And I'm very proud of this. One sponsors asked me to look for a painting of chickens, and I promised I would, but wondered if I'd really be able to locate a chicken or two out west. Lo and behold, chickens! The full photo is below.