Continuing
our journey along the west coast of Iceland, I was taken by their
simplistic architecture, often topped with bright red roofs to add a pop
of color to the natural landscape. In the next several paintings,
you’ll see I chose a different house or barn each day and set out to
capture its shape, the colors and light hitting the structure, and the
picturesque, idyllic, quiet scenery surrounding the building in all
directions. Here is my last one, where we got up to capture sunrise. The
setting had such a beautiful glow to it that I wanted to recreate that
warmth in the foreground and sky contrasted against the cool distant
mountains. Created with palette knife and oil paint, this piece is full
of surprising pops of color, texture, energy and joy.

 

Close up texture detail of “Rural Life IV”

 

 

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Today we continued our counterclockwise adventure around Iceland to arrive in the north, near the massive, impressive Godafoss waterfall. Unfortunately, our weather turned for the worse, and it was way too wet to paint the falls. However, just over the mountain, 20 minutes away at our b and b, the skies were fairly clear with even occasional glimpses of sunshine. I loved these birch trees all over their property, leading you down to the gorgeous view of the mountains in the distance. Sprinkled with summer wildflowers, I set out to capture the light casting long shadows from the trunks and causing the grasses to glow in the foreground, leading to a feeling of joy and serenity in this beautiful spot.