It was a particularly stormy and moody day when I looked out of my studio window at the Jimenez mountains when this idea struck me. Of course, I just had to give it a try. Some of the land was shaded by dark clouds and some was struck by the bright noon sun. I started mulling over the color combinations and where to make the land bright with light and darker with shading. I did not want to create shades with glazes overlaying the paint as I wanted it to look as wild and active as possible. So, after mixing my base colors I spread the colors in a brown line, grey line, blue line, etc. on my mixing board, slapped the pallet knife in different spots to mess it up. I then started painting on the canvas. Smooth horizontal knife strokes with mixed up paint first for the sky. Then smaller brisk diagonal strokes for the distant mountains. Then the flat light land browns and tans. Soon a rhythm set in and I watched the painting appear before me. Love it when that happens. What started out as a dark and dreary day turned into a vibrant and lively painting of the Rio Grande river rushing down the Rio Grande valley.