Sunset, Friday, 12 March 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Rain, and clouds so low they seem to be rolling through the tree branches. Which brings up a question many people seem to have: “What do you do when you can’t see the sunset?”

You can always see the sunset, even if you can’t see the sun set.

Font

Such a tiny writing
This hand I'm composing in
So expandable in the repackaging
By fonts
That can, however,
Do nothing to enlarge the thought
Nor can small type diminish
The day
This morning
Heavy rainstorms
Rivers surging
Land and sea emerging
One oceanic face.

Sunset, Thursday, 11 March 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Not raining ... yet.

Sunset, Wednesday, 10 March 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Sunset, Tuesday, 9 March 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Fever and chills and I didn’t want to paint or do anything else, but felt absolutely fine while painting this, just for the duration. I witnessed the sunset in the company of two guys from rural Madison County who had delivered firewood and may have wondered why I kept looking over at the horizon. At that point we were out at the edge of a field evaluating a big red oak I’d been trying to cut down for at least five years, and they were good-naturedly giving me a hard time about my failure to do so. Apparently I did the right things but in the wrong order, and now any attempt to continue could kill one of us. They allowed as to how, although it would be quite an involved operation, it would be possible to climb to the top, lasso the tree with a rope, and pull it down with their truck. I noticed them thoughtfully scratching their chins as they contemplated the degree of difficulty of the procedure. I did not ask for a quote, at least not today.

Sunset, Monday, 8 March 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

I hope you might almost be able to tell from the softening colors of the mountains and sky that we’re finally hearing the first tree frogs – “peepers” – singing in the evening.