High Sierra Sunrise

This painting was inspired by a recent trip to Lake Tahoe. One day we took an early sunrise drive down the mountain between snow storms. Starting out in the early dawn hours, darkened even more with the ever-present evergreens, we watched as the sun rose over the peaks of a distant mountain range. At one point the rising sun cast its long glow on parts of the valley floors below while warming the evergreens that were closer to us. The painting is a compilation of several glimpses into the rising sun and warming colors set against the darkness of the night, the darkness of the evergreens, and the cold snowdrifts all around.