"Spring Sky Over the Judiths"

"Spring Sky Over the Judiths" and "March Skies #3" (the post immediately below this one) each measure 9 x 7 inches. Both are on board panels and both were brought to their current state in one very short paint session. Both are also what I call "cold" (explained in the post appearing below this one.)
This painting was done "plein aire" outside my studio door. It's very intense painting session for about 15 minutes and then it is set aside as the sky has changed too much to continue. I enjoy working in this manner and am never disappointed with the results. Works like this are always about the paint as well as the subject.

"March Skies #3"

This small painting is based on an earlier larger work which I no longer own, but which still influences my stormy sky paintings. "March Skies #3" as it appears here is a work in-progress, but it may not change much (if at all), as it is now cold. The painting was started before I left for my most recent two-week residency in Oregon and now enough time has elapsed that the energy of the first session is cold. Is there energy still? Yes, absolutely! But it's not the same energy. Also, the paint has dried so additional brushwork will sit on top of this first layer rather than merge or flow with it. And that's an important consideration because this work is as much about the paint as it is about the subject.

"Spring Winds" (or, Gusty Skies Over the Judiths")

Painted on a gesso primed wood panel, this oil  painting started as a sketch that developed a mind of it's own, so to speak. Upon reaching a certain stage I determined that it be declared finished and then left alone. Sometimes talk is cheap and I might push a painting too far. This painting, however, works for me. The scratchy, hurried linear marks that make up this work give a feel for the crisp spring winds that pack a good bite for all who were fooled by the sun and so are unprepared for what spring is on the high prairie.