This painting will be first exhibited at the Sherman Arts Festival and will be available for sale there September 20th.

Chisos Blaze Beneath Electric Skies is an 18 by 24-inch gouache painting that captures a vivid moment where natural forces collide over the Chisos Mountains in Texas’s Big Bend National Park. This landscape presents a dynamic sky dominated by striking white lightning bolts cutting sharply through turbulent clouds. Behind the storm, a radiant sun is depicted with circular, layered brushstrokes in warm yellows, oranges, and reds that gradually transition into cooler purples and blues, creating a charged atmosphere that balances intensity and calm.

The terrain below unfolds in rolling hills and valleys rendered in deep blues and purples. Dark, sparse vegetation—reflective of the region’s native desert flora—adds a grounded texture, reinforcing the landscape’s rugged character. The composition emphasizes a powerful contrast: the volatile energy of the lightning against the steady but vibrant earth beneath a luminous sky.

This work draws inspiration directly from a photograph by Tim McKenna showcasing lightning striking Panther Mountain within Big Bend, an area known for its remote beauty and complex cultural history. The Chisos Mountains sit within this national park along the Rio Grande borderlands, spaces shaped by indigenous peoples, explorers, missionaries, settlers, and ranchers. The layered human and natural histories of this region informed my approach, reflecting the multicultural fabric that defines Texas.

In creating this piece, I incorporated influences from Surrealism, Fauvism, and Impressionism, balancing bold gestures and atmospheric depth through the gouache medium’s capacity for vivid opacity and fluid expression. The swirling sun and piercing lightning serve as formal counterpoints, emphasizing the interaction of elemental forces—the unpredictable sky against the resilient landscape.

Chisos Blaze Beneath Electric Skies represents a more dramatic and energetic direction in my landscape work, moving beyond tranquil reflection toward the raw, elemental power of nature. Through this painting, I invite viewers to encounter a distinctive light and place where sky and earth meet with force and vibrancy, embodying both the natural and cultural spirit of Big Bend.