wax medium and the Hudson

So much is happening! I am traveling and right now I am in Woodstock NY working with Christie Scheele. This is the Hudson River. Majestic. Winding. Beautiful. Will write more later. Internet is hard to find and I am busy working!
PS I think I am falling in love with wax medium!

Warmth and Distance /Painting in progress

painting in progress
underpainting

How do you create distance yet retain the warmth of the very late afternoon/early evening? The simple answer is greying down your colors.. But there is more....Look at Sanford Gifford. His greys and light are magnificent.

Yes..today is beautiful outside(90 and sunny even at 6 am it was 70). It's almost sacrilegious that I am inside. The fact is this painting called me to begin.....immediately. More on this one later.

View from Olana

about 7x21 pastel on watercolor-Uart paper
I am visiting Olana, the home of Frederic Church. He was part of the Hudson River School, pupil of Thomas Cole. I have long loved his and Sanford Gifford's work. Today it was amazing to walk in the footsteps of these great artists.
His house designed as a sort of middle eastern oasis is exactly as he left it-same furniture, paint and all! I was able to stand in his studio and feel the great man's presence as I looked at his living landscape outside his window.
When the clock struck 6pm I knew it was time to paint. The winds were blowing so hard that I not only had to hold down my easel but my water kept blowing all over everything-over and over. Then my painting took flight -that's when I cried "uncle" and finally dismantled the easel. The painting was finished on the ground.
I photographed it in the fading light of evening so it is and awful jpeg. You can't even see the sky colors. I will photograph again tomorrow morning and repost. The repost is above.Now you can see the sky... a little.