Spring Storm Oil on Linen Once I had the idea in my mind to do a series of paintings of Alabama, I set aside one day a week, rain or shine, to go out and accomplish a painting. This day, it was more rain than shine. I had gone to Opelika to hopefully paint trains, but as I got closer to this side of town, it became darker and darker and started to storm. I parked under the Tenth Street Bridge and looked toward the old Railroad Depot, which is now the office of the Opelika Arts Association, a very good organization. It proceeded to lightning and thunder and it got darker still until all the street lights came on. The sight of the lights and the wet pavement inspired me to begin painting right away. As always, painting outdoors is a race with the light. The light usually being the placement of the sun. This time, however, it was a race with the street lights. It would not stay dark for long, and sooner rather than later, the street lights would all turn off again. I painted very fast and tried to keep true to the arrangements of grays that the rain made along with the brilliant orange yellow of the lights. As I neared the middle of the painting, the lights went out and from that point on, it became a memory painting. Toward the end of the painting, I was joined by my beautiful wife Victoria, who had brought me a coffee. |
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