Sabbath Painting Again

Painting needs to be luxurious. Lately I've rushed the process and the result is a field journal full of process paintings rather than finished ones. Yesterday I did spend some quality time with the Walla Walla Valley though another hour would have been perfect.
Landscape painting, like story telling, needs a strong beginning, middle, and end. Those up close details, leaves, grass blades, stones, and fence posts, are what set up a visual tale, the heart of a landscape's story is the richness of the middle ground, and the clouds, sky, and other background elements create a poignant finale. My painting tells an meandering little story but never really gets started because it lacks the hook in the foreground details.

I believe a good story really is the driving force behind any creative endeavor.