landscape

The Mercurial Nature of Beauty

The Mercurial Nature of Beauty

I used to love painting everyday scenes the towns I live in and around. I tended to paint older, but not “historic” places. Frequently I would paint something - that I truly thought was beautiful - and it would be torn down. Once, I heard a woman who was showing my paintings in her shop say, “Sarah paints ugly places and makes them beautiful.” I was too polite to tell her that was not exactly right. I always thought these places were beautiful. It hurt me to see my subjects torn down and replaced by something new. A few times I tried to paint newly built places, and sometimes it worked out. But I can never paint something I think is ugly. When I choose a subject, it’s always because I love something about it.

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Cumulus Clouds with Pilot Rock

It’s wonderful when clouds have lovely flat-bottoms. What you’re seeing is the exact spot where the temperature has cooled enough to cause water vapor to condense and become a cloud. Sometimes is very pronounced - which is so cool to see and fun to paint.

Pilot Rock, Viewed From Mount Ashland, Oil on Panel, 7.5” x 10”

I made this painting on Mount Ashland, from the back side of the bunny-hill, looking east toward Pilot Rock.