Cathedral Falls in June

Cathedral Falls in June   4" x 12"
Acrylic   ©Sheila Ashley Liston
Available Framed $120

The summer of 2016 was just beginning when Bill and I visited a few of our favorite spots in West Virginia. We always stop at this roadside park that has a most beautiful waterfall with easy access. We see this along Route 60 as we leave the Charleston area on Route 60 on the way to Hawks Nest State Park. At Hawk's Nest, we met a lovely group of ladies who were having a scrapbooking retreat. They were kind enough to let me visit with their creative group. Oh my, I do love art supplies of all kinds and creative people! Thank you, Margie Price and group, from South Charleston.

I was working on this painting about 2 weeks after our visit, only to learn that West Virginia had suffered one of the most devastating floods in their history, resulting in many deaths. For the first time that I could remember, it affected the area where I grew up in Clay County. The bridge to my childhood home was washed away as the water forced its way through the quiet little community of Dille. I am grateful for my family and friends who were safe, but not without damage to their properties.

As I painted these falls, I couldn't help but wonder at how water can be the very necessity for sustaining our lives, and yet be so devastating that it takes lives with it as it rushes back to the oceans. 

Cathedral Falls

Cathedral Falls   5" x 8 "    Pastel    © Sheila Ashley Liston
Available $85


Day 22 of Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days Challenge, September 2017

Cathedral Falls is always an unexpected pleasure in every season. This is one of those roadside treasures that can be found on Route 60 near Gauley Bridge, WV.  We parked in a tiny lot just off the road, where the falls can easily be seen as the water flows into the New River. 

 By now, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that my husband and I love waterfalls, especially after a heavy rain.  We have often wondered just how many people drive by, never knowing what real beauty lies within their midst .

The last time we were there, I did this sketch of the falls. Today seemed like a good day to paint this scene from that watercolor sketch. I hope we get to visit there before the fall season is over. 

This is the first time that I've underpainted on an orange toned surface. It's really pretty ugly in that beginning stage to establish the values. In the next frame, I began to add some local color and then further developed the painting by adding the water and working to give shape to the trees. I'm working on UArt 800 sanded pastel paper that allows several layers of pastel to hold to the surface.

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Buttermilk Falls, Long Lake, NY

Buttermilk Falls       6" x 6"    Pastel       ©Sheila Ashley Liston
Available $75

Day 9 of Thirty Paintings in  Thirty Days, September 2017 Challenge

We found Buttermilk Falls in October a few years ago. It's not far off the road near Long Lake, NY, although it takes some climbing down to the riverside to see this view. We enjoyed our day there relaxing, painting, and photographing the falls. If you're in the area, the trip would not be complete without a visit to Hoss's Country Store that has just a bit of everything one would need in the Adirondacks! 

The day we were there, it was quiet, perfect fall day with no other visitors. I was able to get comfortable on the rocks, and do some sketching. I could paint these falls many times and it would still bring back the memories of that day.

Here's a few progress shots of the method that I used for this painting.

Great Falls of Tinkers Creek

Great Falls of Tinkers Creek     6" x 6"    ©Sheila Ashley Liston
Available $75

Day 8 of Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days, September 2017 Challenge

Great Falls at Tinkers Creek is a part of the Bedford's Viaduct Park in the village of  Bedford, Ohio. It's a paved walk down to the falls in an urban area, where one can see the ruins of an old mill and dam. My husband and I love waterfalls and we were willing to do some research to find this one, as it is not well advertised. The waterfall was beautiful in the fall. 

I painted this from memory and then finally looked at our photos and found some changes that I wanted to make in the tree area. 

I made additional changes to the background tree area. This represents the hilly area across the gorge where the a significant amount of leaves had fallen.