Grandfather Mountain painting – Mile High Swinging Bridge

Grandfather Mountain painting of the Mile High Swinging Bridge by artist Kent Paulette.  This original acrylic landscape art on canvas of the Appalachian Blue Ridge Mountains has fog, clouds, blue sky, and trees.  The nature preserve and North Carolina state park is located near Linville.

Here, the Mile High Swinging Bridge on Grandfather Mountain takes center stage. The bridge—a series of dark lines set against the cool, foggy landscape of the nearby peak—stretches out over a gap between the bridge’s endmost points. The gap appears in the painting as a foggy abyss. The bridge, literally a mile high, is depicted in the painting as being surrounded by a cool atmosphere. Its elevation keeps it just out of reach of the valley’s warmth, and fog frequently hangs in its surroundings. The cool greens and purples of the foliage in the foreground further enhance that sense of coolness on the mountain’s peak. The painting’s whites and blues above the scenery suggest long thin clouds partially concealing the blue sky. The pops of blue may cause the viewer to imagine that yearning for clear skies that one feels when standing on a mountain’s peak on a cloudy or foggy day.

Video of this Landscape Mountain Art in the sunshine:

Artist K. Paulette describes his process on this original painting of Grandfather Mountain near the Blue Ridge Parkway, “Early in the morning right before I started this painting I went down to the creek in my backyard, waded through, stuck my face in, and collected a bucket of creek water. Then I came back to my studio inspired, connected with nature, and with mud between my toes. I added the magic creek water directly to the paint and used that mixture to stain my canvas with my Creek Washes.”

“I painted that thick texture at the bottom of this Mile High Swinging Bridge artwork in one big slapping motion using a huge palette knife and lots of paint!”

“I started this large original landscape art with raw canvas, then I did a light gesso. Next I applied the thick texture with a huge palette knife. After that was dry, I stained the canvas and the texture with my Creek Washes. Then I painted layers using a dark mixture of colors without water followed by layers of white paint. Next was the only time I mixed white paint with color which was blue and white in the sky. I finished with my final brushstrokes in white.  I painted this Blue Ridge Mountain art on canvas using just one of each of the 3 primary colors plus white.”

“I was reading the book ‘Silence – In the Age of Noise’ by Erling Kagge as I was working on this painting in the Appalachian mountains.”

The Grandfather Mountain Mile High Swinging Bridge was built in 1952 in the North Carolina mountains.  This fine art for sale shows a foggy mountain landscape near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Artist Kent Paulette painted this original landscape painting in May 2020.

Comments about this Grandfather Mountain painting posted on social media:
Linda Seavey wrote, “So atmospheric! I love it.”

Melissa Crosson wrote, “Spectacular work!! I love the movement.”

Robin Franklin wrote, “Truly gorgeous.”