Does anyone go to North Conway or travel north on Route 16 without trying to get a glimpse of Mount Washington?
Of course there are specific events that watchers look for:
First Snow,
Snow Covered,
Snow Leaving,
Only Patches
and all the drama in between... mists and clouds that enhance the views...
And the inevitable...
Mount Washington Missing in the Mists
As an artist I know that clouds can make the painting,
but as a plein air painter I've wondered about how the clouds seem to be so perfectly placed, shaped to enhance the composition. Then, from a geology presentation I learned the words: orographic, orographic clouds, and orogenic
having to do with mountains, clouds forced and/or shaped by mountains.
The shape of the mountain and its valleys, the moisture on its slopes and in its streams, ponds and breathing trees...these all shape and often form the clouds above and around...
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| Looking south to MW... |
If you know the mountain, and its shape,
you can imagine how it sits beneath its mists,
and how those clouds swirl and tumble,
above the mountain, around the mountain, and,
as in the case above, up the mountain.
The dressing, the scarves adding to the mystery,
The dance of the clouds.
Check out my website for the paintings in this blog and more , barbaramcevoyartist.com
