Wallula Sunshine - Eastern Washington Landscape Painting

Wallula Sunshine - Oil on Panel - 6x6 - Landscape

At the far eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge, really so far east that no one considers it the Gorge any more, is a unique geologic area called Wallula Gap. Basically ancient rivers cut a little gap in the high basalt ridges that run through eastern Washington. Glacial floods were bottle necked at the gap, about 800 square kilometers were entering the Pasco Basin per day, and less than 1/5 could flow out. The raging waters made some really awesome rock formations, if you're in the area it's a great place to visit!

This painting was completed en plein air, or on location, after a big thunderstorm passed through the area. Let me tell you, if you've never tried to capture a raging, fast moving thunderstorm in person it's a wonderful exercise in futility. But though none of the storm paintings turned out I did get some decent photographs, and the puffy, light clouds that followed were a very pleasant model.