Sawtooth Meadow

This one was super fun for me. Allen had this old piece of plywood in the garage. It was huge. It was gnarly, with bumps and scratches on it. The edges were raw and it needed a cradle built. I could not resist. He was kind enough to cut it into three pieces for me. One was 36 x 30, and that is this painting. There are two more on the way, each of them 30 x 30. They seem like the perfect surface for some rustic mountain scenes. Enter Sawtooth Meadow.

An interesting thing happened while I was painting it. For some reason I really struggled with the foreground. I had to black it out and repaint it about four times. Then while I was finally painting the final version, I noticed that all of my mistakes from the previous layers, were leaving a gorgeous bumpy texture. So, even though they were true mistakes, the final result was much more interesting and beautiful because of them. .I think there is a life metaphor in there somewhere.

I personally love this painting. If you look close, you can see a small choo choo on the side of the mountain. Also, I got the chance to learn to use a Chop saw. I promise Honey. I’ll keep my fingers six inches away!