August 22, 2026 - oil on linen panel
Two hike and paints in one day in a National Park was quite an experience. I was going strong until dinner that night, and slept almost the entire next day.
After Dream Lake, my second stop was Chasm Falls. Dream Lake took me a bit longer than anticipated, and I found myself beginning the ascent up fall river road around 3:30 PM. That didn’t leave me with much time to paint, but hey, most great paintings are borne under pressure.
I met two of my great painting friends, Julia and Emily, who had so thoughtfully put a note right on the back of their vehicles so I’d know right where to go. What a blessing it is to have great girlfriends who paint!
This painting was off to a rough start as I realized the entire edge of this waterfall/river was enveloped by red ants that seemed to only bite me, but I stepped out onto a rock nearer to the middle of the stream and was able to set up my gear with dramatically less crawlers.
I wanted to focus on the bright falls and deep, wet rocks and the contrast that formed in the afternoon lighting. It ended up being a super loose and fun piece to complete, and I feel as though it captured the feel and energy of lower Chasm Falls. I’m really loving some of these more dramatic, cinematic panel ratios, so I opted for a 6×12 panel to capture a length of the water. Julia and Emily’s paintings turned out gorgeous, as per usual :). I should’ve moved my water bottle for this photo… lol.
Fall River Road is a one-way drive, so we made the rest of the way up to the Alpine Visitor Center on a sketchy but gorgeous road through dense forest and hidden waterfalls. We spotted one of the largest Elk I’ve ever seen, but it was too busy munching to get a good look at his face.
