July, Oil on Canvas, 40 x 48 inches

I left this canvas at my parent's home during our 2014 visit.  The canvas was meant for another Highway 7 painting that year, but poor weather squeezed out our time so that the painting was never started.  My plan was to drive it up onto Petit Jean Mountain this year to paint a bend in the Arkansas river as it cut through that section of the Arkansas river valley.  I found, however, that it wouldn't fit in my father's Honda Civic, which meant it wasn't going to be an outdoor painting unless it was painted in the neighborhood.  As the last week of our stay began, I found myself glancing at the canvas there on the back patio.  With each glance, I saw a yellow sock-like shape in the upper left-hand corner, though I resisted any thought of starting an abstract painting.  A few days passed and then, when Olivia and her mother were sleeping and the house was quiet, I went out into the afternoon heat and began applying paint, starting with the yellow shape.  The painting progressed until the sun was beginning to recede in the pines behind the house--until it was complete.  Not deep, just beautiful.