The Blue City

I'm back working in my studio on my Vermont landscape series, but before I return to posting those New England compositions again, here's one more plein air painting from my trip to India. I was using the ramparts of an ancient fort as my easel, and looking over towards the "Blue City" of Jodphur. The man walking in the foreground towards me appeared at the last minute, and his addition in the composition gave some sense of scale to this vast, empty valley.

Jain Temple, Ranakpur

For the last week I've been away from my blogging post, working on sketches for a large painting installation for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (a new project I'll be telling you about in upcoming postings.)

Here's a painting from my trip to India a few years ago. I was in many rural areas there that are without electricity, and still waiting for their own New Deal answer for rural electrification--though their solutions will hopefully be based on solar or biomass, rather than coal.

Memory: India

Maybe I'm craving some color outside, but while I'm here today painting my home state I've been thinking back to a trip to Rajasthan, and how exciting it was to be in a place that felt like a complete mystery.