Wahatis Peak, End of Day

Wahatis Peak, End of Day - 6x8 - Oil on Panel

Click Here to Bid!

Just outside of the frame was the setting sun, but I loved these clouds radiating from Wahatis Peak, a part of the Saddle Mountains north of the Tri-Cities.

Manastash Winter - Kittitas Valley Landscape Painting, Ellensburg, Washington

Manastash Winter - Oil on Linen Board - 5x7

Click Here to Bid

This view is looking toward the formidable Manastash Ridge, part of the Yakima Fold Belt of eastern Washington for all you geology nerds. What spoke to me in this scene was the peaceful farmlands, which in a few short weeks will be bursting with tiny sprouts, as the last few breathes of winter held on to the Kittitas Valley. The ridgeline seemed to be guarding the quiet acres outside of Ellensburg.

Crab Creek Winter

Crab Creek Winter - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Sold

Where have I been? Well, this photo should clear things up:

Under the guise of helping family move, my husband and I went on a whirlwind roadtrip through the southwest! It was absolutely amazing, and it definitely cleared up why so much great plein air art is made down there. There is something magical about it.

Zion Canyon

Winter Delta

Winter Delta - Oil on Panel - 6x6

Sold

The beautiful deltas along the Yakima River in Eastern Washington have been my most recent muse. The shapes and shades change with the water level which vary dramatically seasonally and from year to year. I'm embracing the winter and it's chilled palette, it is certainly a distinct sort of beauty!

Here are a couple shots of the work in progress:

Last Light on Peoh Point - Cle Elum Oil Painting

Last Light on Peoh Point - Oil on Panel - 6x6

Sold

The enchantingly unique Peoh Point, looming over Cle Elum in central Washington, had the most beautiful colors cast on it's face by the setting sun when I visited earlier this year. I loved the time I spent painting in the area, it's very paintable! =)

Summer Skies - Rattlesnake Mountain Painting

Summer Skies - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Sold

While the Northwest is being pounded with wind and rain, I thought that a small reminder of the summer warmth was in order!

Evening's Approach - Small landscape Oil Painting

Evening's Approach - Oil on Canvas Panel - 6x8

Sold

It's apparent that the days are getting shorter; my plein air paintings seem to have a theme of the last light it's physically possible to paint  in! I loved the seeming glow of the rabbit brush with the dusky desert purples I stumbled across while walking along the Columbia River at Columbia Point Park in Richland. Honestly, my favorite detail in this one is the distant radio towers crowning Badger Mountain. Often I leave them out, but I thought they added a little man made intrusion to remind the viewer that this lovely little park is really in the middle of a city.

Last Light on Teanaway Ridge

Last Light on Teanaway Ridge - 5x7 - Oil on Ampersand Gessobord

My friends, this month has been a lesson in the power of inertia. I've been working on some larger pieces, and planned on posting a few paintings a week here, but good habits, like posting daily, are much easier to lose than bad ones, like eating one's body weight in ice cream!

But on with the art! I really like the proportions of a 5x7 painting, it's a nice medium width; not too long, not too square. This painting captures the last rays on Teanaway Ridge outside of Cle Elum, Wa. The ridge has a very distinctive shape, providing a great backdrop for the  vast range lands in the Teanaway Valley.

Tidal Stream - Puget Sound Landscape painting

This is another Google Maps Street View Tour painting, Pacific Northwest edition. This little tidal canal was on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula. I've never been to the area before, so it was great to be able to "drive" around.

My posting may be a bit spotty, I have a painting that's a little bigger than I'm used to that I'm focusing on completing. I don't want to say what it is, but I'm REALLY excited about it! My small works will probably be 3-4 per week for a while. I'd rather paint fewer small ones than release ones I'm not satisfied with.

Light over Lake Diablo - Pacific Northwest Landscape Painting

Light over Lake Diablo - 6x6 - Oil on panel

Sold

This was done from a photo I took on our trip over the North Cascades. Greens are such a challenge for any artist, it's a very nuanced color! But I think I'm working with a distinct disadvantage, being from the cheat grass filled side of the state! =) Again, I cannot say enough how important it is that EVERYONE drive this highway at some point in their life. It was simply mindbogglingly beautiful!

Storm's a Brewin' - Eastern Washington Landscape Painting by Melanie Thompon

Storm's a Brewin' - Oil on Panel - Landscape - 6x6

Sold

This is yet another small plein air work that was painted out of absolute necessity. I saw the clouds building in the east and I really had no choice but to do my best to capture them!

All these thunderstorms have been reminding me of being a kid at my parents house. I remember going out onto our deck in pounding rain to watch the lightening pass by, I always was amazed by it. I'm sure this fascination puts me at a disadvantage with regards to natural selection, oh well!

Passing Through - Eastern Washington Landscape Painting

Passing Through • 6x6 • Oil on Canvas • Landscape 

Sold

It's been a summer of thunderstorms here in the Pacific Northwest. It seems like not a week has gone by for the past two months without bringing in it's share of piled up clouds and booming thunder. Those of you who have been to shooting ranges (yeah, this is eastern WA) without ear plugs have an idea as to how loud the thunder has been over my home. While driving through Columbia Park in Kennewick I was struck by an amazing cloud formation that was building over Rattlesnake Mountain and knew I had to paint it!

Sauk Prairie Bison - Pacific Northwest Art

Sauk Prairie Bison - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Sold

This is my favorite plein air from my weekend in Cle Elum, WA. I've never been drawn to painting animals, but  as my husband and I were driving around looking for things to paint I just couldn't resist! I was so surprised to see  a herd of buffalo in the middle of Washington!

Quiet Day in the Teanaway - Pacific Northwest Landscape Painting

Quiet Day in the Teanaway - Oil on Panel - 6x6

Sold

Don't worry, I've still been painting! I was able to recharge my creative juices while staying in Cle Elum, Washington. It's a small town on the east side of I-90 with sunshine and clean mountain air. When I first stepped out of the car, the smell of the air almost had me ready to move there! I'm putting it on my ever growing list of places to build a cabin some day.

I was in Cle Elum to participate in the High Country Artist's Fresh Air Paint Out, though I'll be missing most of the events taking place through this week I'm so glad I was able to spend the weekend there. Three larger paintings will be displayed in the Carpenter House Museum this next week, the reception is Friday from 6pm-8pm.

I had so much fun painting en plein air, more works will be uploaded soon!

Clouds Over the Blues - Landscape Oil Painting by Melanie Thompson

Clouds Over the Blues - Landscape - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

Sold

I've almost always painted clouds as white. But lately I've been noticing that even if they look white to my eye outside, if I paint them pure white, or even the palest yellow, it doesn't seem to convey the sunlight of that moment quite right. So I've been trying new ways of coloring clouds, and I'm enjoying the results!

I captured the reference photo used for this painting on a hike near the Godman Guard Station in the Blue Mountains of south-east Washington State. I was so excited to go, and so obsessed with what plein air gear I would pack, that I forgot to grab my hiking boots! So it was a hike in my Sanuk flip flops made from yoga mats; thankfully the air was warm and the sandals comfy. They did pretty well!

Hogback Hillside - Oregon Landscape Oil Painting

Hogback Hillside - 6x6 - Oil on Panel - Landscape

Sold

There is a road heading south toward the Steen Mountains of south eastern Oregon that I was exploring through Google Maps street view called Hogback Road. It runs along a sharp ridgeline, going on my very basic geology knowledge it looks like the ridge is some of the northernmost part of the Basin and Range area. Lots of sagebrush, and it seemed fitting since the temperature here in the Tri-Cities has been close to or over 100 degrees for several days. Maybe I should try painting some rain clouds!

Ironside Mountain - Oregon Oil Painting Landscape

Ironside Mountain - Landscape - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

This little mountain, hidden away in the remote desert nothingness of eastern Oregon, was the location of a wildfire that thankfully my crew did not have to hike to in 2007. The crew my husband was on, however, was not so lucky! I found the spot on Google Maps and thought it would be fun to "revisit" the area.

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.

Holding the Line - Wildfire Landscape Oil Painting

Holding the Line - 6x6 - Oil on Panel 

NFS

Night ops. If you're lucky, you're handed a drip torch, which essentially is a watering can that pours flames, and begin fighting fire with fire. If you're not as lucky you'll get to spend the next several hours doing your best to not watch the active flame front, instead looking the opposite direction to make sure no floating embers light spot fires behind you. It's a dirty job, but someone has to hold the line.

Cool Down - Wetland Oil Painting by Melanie Thompson

Cool Down - 6x6 - Landscape - Oil on Canvas Panel

Sold

This was a preliminary color study for a slightly larger painting. I ended up making most of these colors up, the original scene was darker and had more of a mysterious aura to it. I ended up going with that mood with the later painting, but I still like how I made this one look like a sunny, crisp winter day. Here in WA it seems like our winter is just now beginning to lift (thanks, el niño), so it seemed appropriate!