Evening Light, 6x8, oil on canvas panel

This little painting was done partly from memory and partly from a photo. I was driving home - without my camera of course - and saw the light on this outcropping of rock that's about a mile from my house. The day had been off and on stormy and there were still clouds hanging around and then the sun peaked out just before sunset and lit up this spot. I went home, grabbed my camera and went back for a shot, but by this time the whole area was bathed in sun, so I got a picture anyway and went home and painted what I remembered it looking like. Its a good exercise - to paint from memory. I think John Carlson, in his book, Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, says to observe a scene, then turn around away from it, and paint what you remember. One advantage to doing this is that you only remember what really made an impression on you. I think I'm going to make it a practice more often.