Appalachian Time – mountains sunset sunrise

Appalachian mountains artwork by Kent Paulette.  This painting perfectly captures the moment when the mountains grow still. Early in the morning, or in the brief moment before nightfall, an array of colors will sometimes dance upon the horizon. Oranges turning into reds which turn into deep purples and hints of blue swirl across the sky. This magnificent display of color stretches vastly over the beauty of the land—the rolling blue mountains, fog settling into their valleys. This is the moment when all the creatures of the land pause and look up. The sky’s light is a beacon, calling all eyes to rest upon it. The birds grow quiet. The locals peer out of cabin windows, breath held, daring not to move lest the beauty fades.

The artist describes his process in October 2019, “I finished this new large painting titled Appalachian Time on Saturday. It’s 40 x 68 inches. It was a collaboration between me & the sun. It was shining though the canvas in parts of the sky and it was also blinding me as I was painting. It was a sneaky collaborator. I thought I was painting orange but the sun was tricking me…I was actually painting pink instead. This all happened when I was painting live at the Northwest NC Visitor Center.

However I finished it at my home studio a week later. I again woke up to a beautiful sunrise as I had done when I started the painting, but this time I painted over all the pink and made it orange like I had originally intended. I too can be tricky. It was a betrayal. I betrayed my collaborator the sun. I’m ok with that…it’s the nature of our relationship.

They had great tunes playing throughout the day. ‘Spill the Wine’ by Eric Burton and War was kinda my theme song for the day.

I painted on only the sky and distant mountains at my home studio and left the bottom half the way it was when I stopped the week before.  The sky and mountains are separated from the nearby trees not only by distance but also by time.”

Comments about this Appalachian mountains painting posted on social media:
Paige Hunt wrote, “Beautiful. The mountains can mesmerize you.”

Kim Brackett wrote, “You captured the blue ridge.”