Pyrenees sunset

A sunset over the Cerdanya valley. The sky dominates the composition, moving from soft pale blue and lavender at the top down into brilliant golden yellow, intense orange, and fiery red near the horizon. Dark purple-brown clouds streak through the warm light. A low mountain range sits as a dark silhouette of blue-grey and indigo along the horizon. In the foreground, a dirt road curves from the lower left toward the center, flanked by dark fields of brown, sienna, and deep olive green. A few trees stand in silhouette against the sky.

Painted from the Cerdanya valley in the Catalan Pyrenees. These sunsets happen daily, but some evenings the light does something extraordinary and you have to stop and watch. This was one of those evenings.

Oil on stretched canvas. Broad, sweeping strokes in the sky capture the movement of clouds and shifting light. The foreground is built with textured, energetic marks.