Yesterday I drove up Geysers Road just outside of Healdsburg looking for a good place to paint. I haven’t painted in a while mostly due to the wildly wet weather we’ve been having. About a mile or so up the road, I found a vineyard creeping up a steep hill overlooking the Alexander Valley. I pulled out my paints, leaned against the car for support, and began to sketch the landscape. Since returning from Greece, I have found drawing in Sonoma County different and I’m looking forward to rediscovering it. The light is different here and the country side is so lush with greenery compared to the almost desert landscape of Greece.

Clouds slowly drifted by and the crisp air kept my nose cold. I began to smell rain and looked North catching a double rainbow just beyond the next bend in the road. I put the last splash of color on my painting, I set my supplies down and I chased the rainbow up to where I could see it in its entirety. After a couple of quick pictures, the sky darkened. Large drops of rain splashed all around and I made a quick dash back to the car just before the downpour.