“Thunder on the Snaring 2″, Original acrylic by Judy Leila Schafers, 7″ x 17”, circa 2011
Us artists sometimes resort to unusual means in order to fulfil creative desires. Drive by shooting with my camera is one of mine.
It seems to me that the sights along rural highways can be among the most interesting. Being the passenger gives me lots of time to take it all in. Around every bend there seems to be more great fodder for future paintings. Often this ‘drives’ me crazy! So many wonderful vistas and beautiful little vignettes….
On road trips, the husband does not usually like to stop for me to take photos. He is all about destination. It might also be unsafe to come to a screeching halt on a busy highway, no place to turn off and snap that view. We would probably never ‘get there’ if he indulged me. Thank goodness for digital cameras!
They are able to capture moments on the fly that my non-digital SLR never could. Making the attempt to capture these scenes is at least somewhat satisfying. After some practise and many, many terrible shots, I have managed to glean a few gems even though so many of those fleeting compositions do not work out. I guess those paintings are not meant to be.
This particular painting is a result of such a photo. Just enough inspiration to work from and the rest is up to me!