Molly Hashimoto

New Mexico Travels

We visited the Rio Grande Gorge on our recent visit to Taos, New Mexico. The landscape combines sage greens, brick and mauve hues as the gorge falls 500 feet to the river.  It was a delight for my artist eyes, as I rarely see these hues in the Pacific Northwest. The Rio Grande headwaters are in Colorado just east of the Continental Divide; it is the fourth longest river system in the United States, and was designated one of the American Heritage Rivers in 1997.

The San Francisco de Asis church in Rancho de Taos was painted by Georgia O'Keeffe, who was much taken with its abstract forms, and photographed by Ansel Adams. I took many photos and hope to do some paintings and perhaps a print or two--though I am much humbled by the amazing work of the many artists who have preceded me in interpreting this marvel.

North Cascades Institute Weekend

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was our closing hour when participants shared their work. I asked them to think about which of their paintings and sketches they liked best, and why, and what they were taking away with them from our weekend together.  Pictured left are Anne Hubka and Cary Retlin. Several people said they were leaving with a new way of looking at landscape. Sometimes knowing how to paint a subject gives you a new insight about it.  Marcel Proust wrote: "The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

North Cascades Institute Weekend: Painters & Gear

Here's my gear and how I set up for painting on location for an hour or more. 

I am including some photos of other painters from last weekend so you can see how they set up for painting outdoors.

Here is Katie Roloson painting at Liberty Bell with a very compact paintbox and a waterbrush--this would be my choice for hiking--it is an extremely lightweight outdoor painting kit.

In the photo to the left, Susan Hamilton is set up for outdoor painting at the edge of Diablo Lake.  We spent two hours there, so there was no hike involved and we could bring more things with us.

Ed Dominguez worked with a very basic watercolor set and was able to mix good colors with it.  I  think the most important art material is the paper, and I almost never work on anything but 140 lb. Arches cold press watecolor paper. Ed appreciated using that.  I find it is very forgiving paper, with its double sizing--it allows for rubbing out and corrections, plus it takes a long time to dry, which gives time for re-working into wet washes.

Kathi Jackson, pictured left, is set up with camp stool for comfortable seating and table for palette, brushes and water container. She was able to work on a rather large scale with this equipment.

North Cascades Institute Weekend

We had the opportunity to paint Pyramid Peak in both morning and later afternoon light, which revealed how light and shadow can sculpt form.  Our eyes and brains use those cues to make sense of the physical world.

  Learning Center weekends are never without wildlife viewing opportunities. I photographed this Douglas Squirrel feeding on a fir cone, and also saw a tiny stumpy-tailed vole scuttling across the trail beside the canoe dock.                                                   

Helen Todd is a Seattle-area photographer and artist who joined us last weekend; below is a larger view of one of the sketches she did.

North Cascades Institute Weekend: Painting Peaks & Weather

On Friday afternoon, thunderhead clouds developed as the day wore on, and we heard distant rumbling. Conditions made for fun painting, as we used paper towels to blot out the towering altocumulus clouds!

Then, on Saturday, just east of the Cascade crest on highway 20 at Bridge Creek, Pauline Anderson and Beth Cordova basked in the alpine meadow sunshine as they painted.

Later, on our drive back west to the Learning Center we encountered thundershowers and this classic scene of mist rising from the gullies of a forested ridge. I used my point and shoot camera to take this photo from the moving van.

North Cascades Weekend

Sukey Jacobsen painted this sketch when we vanpooled up to Liberty Bell Mountain at Washington Pass.

She made a decision to focus on one small part of the mountain, which resulted in this strong compositon. She deliberately limited her palette, which also added to the power of her sketch. 

Julia Kerl created this small gem of a sketch using a photo as a reference.

Painting Watercolor in the North Cascades

  Kamloops, BC botanist Lyn Baldwin was among the weekend participants and had brought along her trusty plant guide, Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.  This is obviously a well-loved book--there is no end to the uses of duct tape! Lyn shared a wealth of knowledge about mountain plants, and has been keeping naturalist journals for many years. 

 

One evening after I gave a slide presentation on landscape artists and wilderness, we walked out to Diablo Dam and observed the alpenglow on the snowy shoulders of Pyramid Peak. Katie Roloson showed us the tiny town of Diablo hundreds of feet below.

North Cascades Painting Weekend

Katie Roloson was my North Cascades Institute staff assistant, ably explaining all the logistics of our weekend to us.  Katie is a talented artist as well as a devoted outdoorswoman, and she was able to join us for some painting and drawing as well as sharing her knowledge of the history of the North Cascades with us.                             Pictured here at our final critique are Susan Hamilton and Cary Retlin. 

Pauline Anderson is going to be putting her plein air sketches into a journal she has made; she works on single sheets of paper that she has cut to size for her journal.

                                                                                                                                  

North Cascades Weekend

We enjoyed perfect weather conditions for trying out many different ways of using watercolor. Helen Todd and Anne Hubka found different kinds of sun protection in bright light conditions.

One morning, Pyramid Peak was shrouded in clouds and mist which gave us the opportunity of trying wet into wet watercolor outdoors.

   

Here are a couple of painters' responses to the scene.

Molly Magee created this painting quickly while sitting on the lake's edge.

 Kathi Jackson painted this large watercolor completely outdoors in about two hours sitting at the edge of Diablo Lake.

More Painters in the North Cascades

Here are a few more photos of our group, some taken outdoors and some indoors in the beautiful classroom where we conducted our final critique.  Students shared their favorite sketches from the weekend.                                                                            Pictured here are Karen Knoshaug, Julia Kerl and Cary Retlin.

Ed Dominguez shared several pieces he created during the weekend, his first watercolor class ever!  We appreciated his naturalist expertise (he leads classes and trips for the Mountaineers), as we painted and hiked in meadows and forests.