Mountain at Dawn

This painting captures dawn light playing over a gentle mountain ridge. Painted "from feeling" and imagination (rather than a specific place) and inspired by memories of mountains seen on travels and in films, it presents a possible physical place as well as a place in consciousness. After a long night (or perhaps a "dark night of the soul"), the darkness gives way to a soft light that brings new hope. In this way, after long travels up a steep grade, the way grows a bit easier, and the mountain slope gentles out to offer a respite from hard (spiritual) climbing. This image captures the painting's soft yet rich texture, including the grain of the canvas that shows through the golden sunlit side of the mountain at left and in the sky above. It also shows the small brushstrokes of blue, pink, white, and gray that make up the sky and give a feeling of delicate clouds as well as a light breeze. To the lower right, a mix of deeper colors portrays the area of the mountain still in shadow. In its stillness and soft colors, this painting harmonizes well with the astrological sign Taurus and its ruler, Venus. The subject, a mountain, also suggests Taurus themes: mountains are associated with the Earth, and the fixed sign Taurus is the earthiest of the three earth signs, which include Virgo and Capricorn.