On the hill behinds mom’s looking east. It was a burn day and smoke from the neighbors left a thin veil over the valley
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Oak on the Hill
Tag: smoke
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Behind Uncle Jim’s
This morning I drove out to the creek behind my uncle Jim’s house and painted the view looking west. It’s still very smokey in the valley which adds a lot of depth to the landscape but it was painfully hot so I didn’t have much fun today. We are in the middle of a heat wave and I being a fool, forgot both my hat and water. By ten thirty I had had enough. 1.5hr
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Thick Veil of Smoke
Woke up to a fire alert for Willits and then while I was painting got another for Corte Madera. You couldn’t escape the smoke today if you tried. It’s blowing in from all over. Wildfires are awful but very selfishly I love how their smoke shifts the light toward warm peach tones and throws my normal color palette out the window. Alexander Valley looked other worldly this afternoon so I set up in the vineyards above my brothers house and did my best to capture the eerie light. 2.5hrs
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Fire in Alexander Valley
I looked up from my lunch to see smoke rising from the middle of the valley. At first it looked like a burn pile but the plume quickly grew and it suddenly had my full attention. I called 911 and got through to the fire department who were already on their way. Then I called David Huebel who, from my vantage point, lives directly behind the smoke, he had also called it in and after a quick conversation we pinned the fire as directly between us. Fire trucks passed by him going north and then by me headed south from Geyserville. I had a house full of kids so I thought it best to keep an eye on this things from afar. I always keep my painting kits packed and ready to go so I grabbed it and set up on the driveway to try and capture the scene. The fire department had the grass fire out before I could finish my sketch. Dang those guys are good. My hats off to them.
Talking to my Uncle Jim after the fact, it sounds like the fire happened over at the Jackson’s property, he thinks they were mowing the tall grass to reduce the chance of a fire and one of the blades struck a rock. Apparently two of our crew, Colan and Antonio, were over there with a water truck before the fire department arrived and helped put it out. Major props to them.
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Another Smokey View
It’s gross outside. Smoke from the Willits fire has turned the whole neighborhood a peach hue.
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Morning Smoke
Looking out the living room window the air is heavy with smoke from the Napa and Sonoma fires. It’s a weird mix of purple and yellow greens. Strongly backlit in the morning light the view from my dinning room table continues to challenge me.
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Sunset View of Fires in Napa
Drove over to China Camp after work to paint the smoke from Napa and Sonoma. It made for a rather dramatic sunset as in blew in toward Marin. Good luck to all the family’s and fire crews in the path of the fires. Stay strong.
Dick and Don find the old miner’s campsite. Will they be able to get their gold nugget back or will it be too late?