Back from the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. I painted some in the park this summer all plein air, as I was in the process of creating my indoor painting studio while I was there. My wife and I had the most amazing summer camping out and building our little hut that will be a painting studio with a little sleeping loft. One of the best experiences we had in the park was when we hiked to the Jumbo Mine. This is the first and only time I have had the opportunity to climb up into this part of the Bonanza Ridge, to the ruins of the Jumbo Mine. Not much left of the buildings and I decided to hike to the top of the ridge. I was a little bit ahead of the others and sped quickly to the highest point under the cliffs on the ridge. With a few minutes to spare as I was waiting for the crew, I painted this painting looking back towards the Chugach Mountains. While on the ridge, I found lots of green rocks, (Chalcocite with Malachite) a whole vein up on the mountains! It feels so great to be on the top of these amazing bodies of metal. I was glad that I made it down with minimal damage to my painting. Hiking 10+ miles with a plein air kit is not too difficult, but making it successfully home with a wet oil painting is more difficult that most people might imagine, so I always sigh a breath of relief when I get home successfully with a new plein air piece.
Real Art Is Better! 