Clouds Overhead (sold)

"Clouds Overhead" 8x8 oil on board, ©Laura Gable SOLD

I've been doing quite a bit of plein air painting this year. I set out around late December in 2014 resolving to complete at least 2-3 paintings a week. I didn't go so far as to require one per day, because I know what that does to me and my creative psyche. So during the cooler, less colorful months, it was interesting to see what colors I could see in these sueded hillsides and the surrounding toned trees and brush. This was painted from an overlook near the Columbia River where the Yakima River merges into this expansive waterway. The largest mountains in our area are treeless. An odd claim to fame, but even Wikipedia acknowledges that fact regarding this Rattlesnake Mountain.

Rattlesnake Mountain (Native American name Lalíik meaning "land above the water") is a 3,527 ft (1,060 m) windswept treeless sub-alpine ridge overlooking the Hanford nuclear site. Parts of the western slope are privately owned ranchland, while the eastern slope is under the federal protection of the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve, a unit of the Hanford Reach National Monument, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Rattlesnake Mountain is often described as the tallest treeless mountain in the world, but this claim appears to be without foundation.^[2] The highest winds recorded on Rattlesnake were around 150 mph (241 kilometers per hour).[3]

Just yesterday winds up on Rattlesnake were clocked over 100 mph. Glad I wasn't up there with an easel. ;-)