by CarlOwen » Wed May 31, 2017 3:14 pm
Thank you for your critique Joseph. Sometimes a storm can move in so fast and the sky is so large in New Mexico that the cloud front can look like a wall advancing into a perfectly blue sky. I tried to capture that movement. The other thing is that Santa Fe is 7,000 feet above sea level. Middle clouds are typically around 9,000 to 16,000 feet here. Some would dispute that, but it is almost like looking directly at them instead of up at them. The Pecos wilderness is just east of Santa Fe around 50 miles. Santa Fe is on the backside of the mountain chain in the middle of the painting. Santa Fe Baldy is a little over 12,000 feet putting these clouds in the 14,000 foot range. Pecos, NM is about the same elevation as Santa Fe, maybe a little higher. One of the most remarkable topological views, at least to me, are the Pecos river bluffs. You are actually looking at old sea beds eons old. These are the inspirations for this painting. I can live with the disconcerting element you identify. I think the unsettled feeling enhances an otherwise sedate scene.