Autumn Poetry at Smith Rock

I painted a small study of this spot in autumn of 2021 when I was able to find a couple of wonderful painting buddies who were willing to hike down with me to paint at the bottom of the Smith Rock canyon here in central Oregon. The hike down is no sweat; it's the hike back up--lugging the painting gear--that normally keeps most painters at the top of the canyon. It was drizzling when we arrived there (NOT predicted in the forecast!) and we pondered whether or not to bother, but we went for it, and were glad we did! From the time we set up and began painting, the clouds parted and the sun put on quite the spectacular show for us! It took me about a year of looking at my plein air study to decide how to approach a large version (or should I say more accurately...work up the nerve), but after painting a few autumn scenes the following year, I just saw something in that earlier study that needed to go bigger.