tinyExpanse North Idaho 

A blogging, painting, exploring good time up north!

5am-11am  (A morning at Reeder Bay)

My alarm goes off at 4:45am. Like many early morning endeavors, I promptly hit snooze and decided that my project planned for the morning is completely ridiculous and go back to sleep. 9 minutes later my alarm went goes off again and I drag myself out of my sleeping bag. 

By 5am I am at the beach with my headlamp dimly lighting my palette and painting panel. Last night I prepared six of such panels, drawing the outline of the scene to be painted today on each one using carbon paper. The line drawing makes painting faster and the finished works more consistent. I will paint one of these panels each hour (think Monet’s haystack paintings) to document the changing light on the water and the Selkirk mountains beyond. 

I have done several of these projects now, and always the 5am one is the hardest. Well, getting up is the hardest. But the glorious experience of having the sun rise and warm my cold, paint covered hands by about the third painting makes it worth it every time. 

5am

6am

7am

This morning I have the beach to myself for several hours. The water transforms from silver slivers on on indigo plane to gentle king’s blue and olive green stripes. 

Beach goers begin to trickle by, most not really noticing the unusual project going on at the beachside picnic table, some giving words of encouragement, others suspicious looks. At moments like these I thoroughly enjoy the abnormality of my profession - I am completely content in my disheveled appearance and bizarre activity. 

8am

9am

10am

Time for a swim, lunch, and a nap. If you haven’t had the chance to visit Priest Lake, put it on your list. It’s a little piece of paradise. 

This afternoon - back to Sandpoint to photograph and paint the Scotchman Peaks from Mineral Point. 

Priest Lake at Reeder Bay - 5am-11am