Sky really can be brown.

“Agoura Hills Dawn”

‘Agoura Dawn’ is one of my last unsold watercolors – I have often wondered if it has not touched anyones heart because sky does not usually come in brown.  But the morning I painted was so peaceful; the painting came out pretty much like the photograph, especially with the sky color and soft swirls.  But it seems no one likes a brown sky.  Last Monday I concurred with that sentiment.  We had a storm where strong cold winds came down from the north and met our warm desert air, creating dustdevils.

I was in the studio working, and my neighbors were in their yard, admiring the spinning sky.  An especially large dustdevil headed towards both houses, they decided that as it was about twice the size of a house, they would be safer inside, so they fled.  Inside my studio, I watched the sky outside go brown, full of sand and leaves, I heard the freight train, and then the ripping sound that was shingle roll being vacuumed up from the roof and deposited in a heap on the roof and all over the yard. .

I much prefer my skies calm….