Back to the Mountains (Heading West from Denver): Acrylic Watermedia Painting

This was the last painting that I did for my show, "Back to the Mountains: Memories and Daydreams,"  at Galatea Fine Arts this month. I finished this painting on February 20th, doing most of the painting all in one day, which is very unusual for me.  I used a bright blue for the sky, and created some of the textures in the mountain ranges with acrylic paint used with water wash-off and table salt. Perhaps because this was my last painting for the show,  I pulled out all the stops.  I mixed some pearlized irridescent paint with titanium white for the snow.  I mixed silver metallic paint with blue to get those blue-gray areas on the mountains.  And I used my old favorite "hot pink" for the sun, and for the a subtle outline on the tops of the mountain range.  This painting combines some of my "old standard" techniques for acrylic watermedia landscapes, but also reflects some new things I have learned in preparing for this show: an emphasis on a strong shapes and  textures, thanks to my work with pasted paper. Despite the time pressures and stress that come with getting ready for a show, I really did enjoy it.  It has been lovely to get back to the mountains.