Lisa McShane Art

Fall on Red Mountain. ©2014, Oil on Canvas. 22" x 44" Red and Rattlesnake Mountains are in the Yakima River valley of eastern Washington and they interest me in all seasons. The valley seems to capture and hold light and over the years, painting in the area, I've found some great vantage points.

Horse Heaven Hills Evening. ©2014 Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 20" x 30" We visited McBee Road atop the Horse Heaven Hills twice in one day last Fall, when the light was long and saturated. This is the view looking towards the Columbia River.

Selah Canyon 1. ©2013 Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 16x20". This is one of my favorite places in eastern Washington. It's a deeply carved canyon with a small, mostly dry creek at the bottom. Selah Creek. It originates in the Yakima Firing Range and heads west to join the Yakima River. Eventually those waters flow to the Columbia and the Pacific Ocean.

Valley in Winter. ©2012. Lisa McShane. 18" x 22". Oil on Linen. When I drive east in the winter across the Yakima Valley the sun sets early on frozen fields. It's not warm out but the sky is often glorious to the west.

Spring on Rattlesnake Ridge. Oil on Linen. 22 x 36. I make no apologies: I am painting and repainting Rattlesnake Ridge. Different seasons, different vantage points. This is spring, early morning, very clear air. I was there in May and found a great dead end where I could sit and sketch and take notes. I'd been seeking a place where I could see the river (that's the Yakima River) and some of the eroded basalts with the fields above (wine grapes and fruit trees) and a straight-on view of Rattlesnake.

Rattlesnake and River. ©2011. Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 16" x 36". Now it's finished. Just a little more work on the sky.

Rattlesnake and the River. ©2011. Lisa McShane. Oil on Linen. 16" x 36". I'm sure 99.9% of the artists who blog and who post paintings online wait until the painting is finished before they post the image. I'm not in that camp. Sometimes - and this may be one of those times - I post the image so that I can see how it looks at a distance, in a different format, from a different angle and at a tiny size. Yes, it's wet and I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to add clouds. Clouds in a landscape are such an integral part of the composition that they will be in my original sketch and then I add them in during the underpainting. But with this painting, I've just been uncertain. No need for feedback, I'll just be thinking about this.

Rattlesnake & River - in progress. Oil on Linen Panel. 12" x 16". This is just the first sketch for the underpainting, along with a wash of rose at the skyline and on the mountain. Tomorrow I'll continue to detail the underpainting, and put in the first layers of the sky and river. The river is the Yakima and along here, it's extraordinarily scenic. Over the years it's been fascinating to watch the orchards and then the vineyards cover this area.

Rattlesnake Badlands - in progress. Oil on Canvas. 22" x 36". I started 7 paintings yesterday! Yes, 7. I was inspired by my trip to Walla Walla last week and all are of eastern Washington. Of particular interest to me, and from all angles, is Rattlesnake Mountain along the Yakima River, south of the Columbia. This one depicts badlands and interesting geologic features in the foreground. In some areas, the foothills are lined with vineyards. On the Columbia side Rattlesnake Mountain is very dry and last weekend had patches of purple phlox. And by patches, I mean a sea of purple phlox. We drove home via the Hanford Reservation and stopped for Dan to look at phlox and for me to sketch the mountain. More later on all that. Yesterday was a busy day: I also stretched 3 large paintings and then sized them: 2 linen, one cotton canvas. I'll be putting an oil ground (Gamblin's) on them the next few days. I'll be gone for a week and a half and it will be nice to have them d...