The Essence of the Day

Buckley, the Windsurfer, and I drove down to Maryhill early this morning for a little plein air work.  Later in the day this place is hot and unpleasant, but first light in the morning it is beautiful.  Trying to capture that beauty is difficult for me and something that I will keep working toward.  My artist friends traveled to a place where green prevails and Mt. Adams looms above with cool colors and a spring like feel.  Since summer is upon us, I am influenced more by what is going on around me, so we stayed on the dry side.

Maryhill is a location in Klickitat County and around the turn of the last century, this land captured the imagination of a very rich man who decided to create a town.  His name was Sam Hill and he built a huge mansion that today is Maryhill Museum.  The land where I painted today, is also a part of his dream and below us you can see the verdant green where he envisioned a town.  The town never came to reality, but it has become a great location for orchards of cherries, apricots, and wonderful juicy peaches.  Above Maryhill there is a cattle ranch and some vineyards.  Interesting area with a colorful history.

Sam Hill named everything Maryhill after his wife, who took one look and headed back east, then Sam decided to settle in Portland with his mistress.