When my husband and I drove down Skyline Drive last fall, we found we had either gone too soon or too late to see the best colors down in the valley’s. But on one pullover, I turned around and saw a small tree with eye popping yellow leaves growing out of a crack in a blue and purple cliff face. I snapped a few photos and jumped back in the car. The photo, once cropped, kept bugging me to paint it.

So, today I spent the day with my watercolors and some a pad of Winsor & Newton 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper in a slightly larger size: 12×16″. I have added a few Daniel Smith watercolors to my student set from the beginner’s class earlier this year.

Here is the photo that inspired the painting:

Here is the resulting painting I’m calling “Cliff Dwellers.”