High Desert Gold

Years ago I spent an entire day driving around Northern Nevada, engaged in what my coworkers half-jokingly called a “cowboy inventory”. Inventorying is an official lands management process aimed at assessing assets/values, but it typically takes place over days/weeks/months on the ground – not hanging out of the side of the cab of a truck, like we were basically doing. I remember the day as being filled with the broad, open landscapes and moody skies that characterize this part of the world. Toward the end, we pulled over to take in this scene as the sun lowered and filled the golds and greens with even more warmth, contrast with deep shadows and the striking blues and bruised clouds across the sky. It’s a scene that stuck with me. All these many years later, I finally sat down to paint it. You could call it an easel inventory, and I loved every minute of getting to reinhabit this scene within a landscape that is so important to me. I hope you’ll be able to experience this place this way too!

Acrylic on Canvas

9″x12″