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.

Road to the Grande Ronde

Road to the Grande Ronde - Oil on Panel - 6x6

This Google Street View tour was conducted a little closer to home. The Grand Ronde River has the craziest loop-de-loop path as it cuts through the Blue Mountains, and there is an amazing road that starts high at the top of a ridgeline and winds down, down, down into the Grande Ronde Valley. The switchbacks made me dizzy, even through the screen!

Alaskan Roadside - Small Landscape Painting - Oil on Panel

Alaskan Roadside - Oil - 6x6 - Landscape

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 What would you give for this to be along your daily commute? I caught this view through Google Maps Street View while "driving" through Alaska, and was blown away! Don't get me wrong, here in Washington we have some great views, but WOW! If you have a minute or two (or an hour) you should consider spending some time in Street View in Alaska. I'm about ready to book my plain ticket!

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.

Thompson River View II - Canadian Landscape Painting by Melanie Thompson

Thompson River View II - Oil on Panel - 6x6 - Landscape

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Here's the Thompson River again, from a slightly different perspective. Again, the clouds just cast these amazing shadows, it was really fun to capture the lighting.

Thompson River View I - Fine Art Oil Landscape by Melanie Thompson

Thompson River View I - 6x6 - Oil on Panel - Landscape

When on my virtual tour through Canada I came across the Thompson River, and knew I had to paint it. Not only was the river named Thompson, but the clouds were casting the most amazing shadows on the distant hills. It was so nice, I painted it twice, the next one will be up tomorrow!

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.