I continued with paintings from my photos of the 1999 backpacking trip with my friend, Gerald. This one is from the morning after dealing with the slide in Slide Canyon and we were hiking up the trail to Burro Pass. It was a beautiful place with rocky meadows, lots of Indian Paintbrush, and views of Matterhorn Peak straight ahead.
The morning after crossing Burro Pass and Matterhorn Pass, we climbed Matterhorn Peak. This painting is based on a photo that Gerald took of me at the summit. The view is south over Whorl Mountain. Some of my best moments ever have been on high Sierra peaks, and I wanted to show that. Having myself in the the middle of the scene added to the challenge. For years I've avoided painting people because I thought it would be too hard to do. This time, I figured that if I were try a portrait, it may as well be a self-portrait to avoid offending the subject. I don't think it looks much like me but at least I'm not offended.
