This is a detail from one of the 4 ft by 8 ft paintings I did for a percent-for-art commission for the U.S. Army Armory in Baker City, Oregon. The commission consisted of several paintings depicting events or people significant to the military and civilian history of the community.

To see other paintings in the series, click http://poppenga.com/BakerCityCommission.html

"March Skies - #23" is an oil and beeswax painting on canvas, measuring 24 x 30 inches.

This painting is a memory work---i.e., I experience the environment (in this case: see the clouds and their movement, feel the cold wind, sense the overwhelming expanse of sky that seems to press down on the prairie landscape--even the distant mountains seem to shrink down in the face of the winter sky.) Then I return to my studio and attempt to capture the experience in paint.