Autumn Along a Wasatch Backroad

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Most of the population of Utah lives just west of the Wasatch Mountains in an area called the Wasatch Front. On the east side of the mountain range are small towns, mostly ranching communities or ski resorts. This area is known as the Wasatch Back. That's where I went wandering with paintbox last week.

Fall colors are at peak - at least they were last week before a wind storm blew through over the weekend. I went out as the wind was gaining strength, but before rain moved in. Taking a break from making big paintings, I took along a 9" x 12" pochade box. The pochade box would be much more stable in strong winds than a 24" x 36" panel on an easel. I was just a little too tired that day to care to wrestle with the wind over an easel.

At a gated road I parked the car, gathered my gear and walked down the two track trail until coming to the scene shown at the top of this post. There I painted until sunset. Afterwards, I just had to walk farther down the trail to see what was there. I came across a couple mule deer browsing along the trail. I also saw more views of the landscape beckoning me to paint them! I don't know if I'll make it back here before the season's gone, but I think it's one of those places I'll return to again and again.

All because I went for a walk instead of just painting beside the car.