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I find it interesting to analyze what makes an area so alluring to paint that I keep coming back many times a year. In some cases, it's one specific scene. In the case of Iona Island, it's many areas of the sanctuary. What especially intrigues me are the variety of textures, the varied yet subtle colors and the many watery paths throughout the area with mountainous hills bringing up the rear. Lots for the eye to enjoy.

Wild reeds and grasses, bushes, trees and wild flowers line the banks of the marsh. Sometimes the watery paths are wide and sometimes narrow as the tide from the nearby Hudson influences the water level. The atmosphere is often highly saturated with moisture which causes foggy, moody conditions and because the Island is in the Hudson Highlands and right along the river, one can count on lots of dramatic skies.

The scene I've chosen here is right at the entrance road to the Island. If I turn a little to the North, I'm looking at the Bear Mountain Bridge. Here, the focus was on the many layers of wild growth in varying shades of green and earth tones that march in angled paths of Nature's own making and the bright blue reflection of the sky in the water.

There are many beautiful views that can be seen from this harbor on Cape Cod. On this particular day, the sun was setting low on the horizon and as it did, it lit up the hillside with a warm orange glow. The coolness of the surrounding colors with that brightly lit fiery hill really captured my attention.

I enjoyed painting this subject so much that I'm now working on another version with more of the sky showing as it too started to warm up as the sunset occurred. What I love so much about painting landscapes and getting out on location is that I'm kept very alert to what's taking place around me on a moment by moment basis. Sometimes the colors and effects are so unreal, that unless you see them with your own eyes, you would be sure they were made up. In this case, it was as if a cameraman in the far corner had suddenly turned a spotlight on the subject. Until then, that same scene had looked rather dull as the sun was going down and I wouldn't have considered painting it.