Along the Rapidan

William Van Doren, ALONG THE RAPIDAN. Pencil on paper, 8 x 9.5, 2012.

Meanwhile, Outside the Party (Sunset, Wednesday, 31 August 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE PARTY (Sunset from Madison Mills, Madison County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

I wasn’t able to post last night because I was at a party out in Madison County, near Orange – at Woodberry Forest. Any inconvenience was more than compensated for by their enormous view of the horizon.

Blue Ridges (Sunset, Saturday, 26 February 2011)

William Van Doren, BLUE RIDGES (Sunset from Madison Mills, Madison County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

I was standing, finishing a sketch of this when my friend I hadn’t seen since 30 years ago in L.A. drove up and gave me a lift to the gallery, where she toured the exhibit. The show, Moment & Horizon: The 365 Sunsets of 2010, is open this afternoon and all day tomorrow, its final day.

Showtime (Sunset, Friday, 14 January 2011)

William Van Doren, SHOWTIME (Sunset from Shelby, Madison County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Sunset, Saturday, 1 May 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Madison Mills, Madison County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Sketched at Woodberry Forest School just before we went in to see the Brent Cirves and Michael Johnson musical adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

Sunset, Tuesday, 9 March 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Fever and chills and I didn’t want to paint or do anything else, but felt absolutely fine while painting this, just for the duration. I witnessed the sunset in the company of two guys from rural Madison County who had delivered firewood and may have wondered why I kept looking over at the horizon. At that point we were out at the edge of a field evaluating a big red oak I’d been trying to cut down for at least five years, and they were good-naturedly giving me a hard time about my failure to do so. Apparently I did the right things but in the wrong order, and now any attempt to continue could kill one of us. They allowed as to how, although it would be quite an involved operation, it would be possible to climb to the top, lasso the tree with a rope, and pull it down with their truck. I noticed them thoughtfully scratching their chins as they contemplated the degree of difficulty of the procedure. I did not ask for a quote, at least not today.