80.  Original Plein Air Watercolor Painting, "Plein Air, View from Humphrey's Peak near Summit, 4-5pm, 5.24.24, Friday”, watercolor, 30 x 42”, 2024

Location: Flagstaff, AZ

Event: ArtX Flagstaff

At the time I made this, I’d never successfully hauled a 30 x 42” board and paper up a mountain. For some reason, it felt important to do so, to know that I could bring myself and my large-format watercolor work up to wherever I needed to be to get the view I wanted to paint. Making this piece was not easy. I had an idea for a method of strapping the boards to my painting backpack, which I sketched and tested at home. Convinced it could work, I started up with the intent to climb Humphrey’s Peak, but had to turn around when the snow and ice and extremely steep grade made carrying on without spikes for my shoes impossible. On the descent, I post-holed my foot through the snow, twisting my opposite knee a bit too far, but it turned out I was ok - a very close call. I was ready to be really injured from such a mistake, so I kept a close eye on it as I descended. I went into town, bought spikes, and started back up, although I’d already been hiking for about five hours. From the base, I had another three hours up, before I lost the trail in the snow. I could rough it to the summit, and not paint, or I could take one hour maximum before my hard turnaround time - I opted to paint. This painting, made at about 12,000 feet, was more about seeing if it was possible to do so, rather than the finished piece. I finished the work, turned around, and made it back down just as the sun set. Although I didnt’ quite make the peak, I did make a painting at a mountaintop, including climbing the mountain up and down twice. Days like this one give me more energy than they take.