As a retirement gift, I was given three nights lodging at Snowater Resort condominiums by a parishioner. Snowater is located in the North Cascade mountains of Washington, not far from the Canadian border. It was great to have a comfortable condo to return after each day of painting. Thank you, Penny!
I checked into Snowater on Friday night and spent all day Saturday and Sunday painting near Picture Lake in the high country. Aptly named, this lake mirrors Mt. Shuksan which looms above it. It’s a must for every outdoor photographer and painter (thus the name).
Saturday morning was clear and sunny, and I set up my easel right away at one of the viewing platforms. It was a good thing I did, because the clouds came in later and obscured the view. A few people shared the platform with me, but they were very respectful and didn’t get in my way.
Afterward, I drove to the Heather Meadows Visitor Center and parked where the road was blocked because of snow removal. I hiked up the road to Artist Point at the very end of the road. It’s still melting out, but crowds of people were enjoying the walk up the road. I brought my painting gear with me hoping to paint Mt. Baker, but it was completely hidden in the clouds. The hike wore me out. It’s about two miles and a thousand feet elevation gain.
After a break, I drove down a ways and painted Mt. Shuksan again where a ridge partially hides the mountain. I enjoyed painting the trees on the ridge, using a free brush with an almost abstract pattern. I also painted this scene on Sunday. Here are the two paintings side by side.
On Sunday I again drove to Picture Lake and painted the mountain, although this time there were clouds swirling around the top of the mountain.
For my last painting of Mt. Shuksan I drove partway down the mountain and stopped at a pullout. The mountain loomed even higher from this vantage point. I painted a little bolder this time, making the mountain a little stronger and the trees darker. I like the way this turned out.
After this I was pretty tired. I tried to paint the Nooksack River on my way back to the condo, but I was too tired and I couldn’t get it to work out. But I had a wonderful two days of painting in an amazing setting.