Snowy Mountain, II - A New Ending

Snowy Mountain, I
Oil on Canvas, 24" x 20"
Completed in 2006

I have made two snowy mountain paintings.  The first one, Snowy Mountain, I (left), was a smooth sail. I arrived at the final stage without an iota of struggle.  The execution stage was quick and assured and it matched my design or vision perfectly.  A Chinese ink painting influenced work.  It was completed in 2006.

Soon after, I worked on its companion piece, Snowy Mountain, II, but this one gave me so much struggle and had pulled me into various directions that I was attempted to give it up time to time, if it had not become my Moby-Dick.

My obsession to wrestle with this small beast finally made it yield somewhat and the last reincarnation fit the mood and style of its companion piece rather well, and I am relieved to say that it is completed.  (For now).

Snowy Mountain, II
Oil on Canvas, 20" x 16", Completed in 2012

A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3

Left the Burney Falls behind, we drove on the McCloud, California for the evening.

According to Wikipedia, "McCloud is a small town and census-designated place (CDP) in Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 1,101 at the 2010 census, down from 1,343 at the 2000 census. Visitors use McCloud as a base to engage in nationally-recognized trout fishing in the nearby McCloud, Sacramento and Klamath Rivers, or come to see and climb Mount Shasta, Castle Crags or the Trinity Alps."

We drove towards McCloud, guided by the landmark of Mt. Shasta.









On our way out of McCloud towards Ashland, we also saw a companion peak to Mt. Shasta:





McCloud was a quaint little town, with some Victorian houses, serve as Hotels and Bed and Breakfasts.  Mt. Shasta was always present.











It had some charmingly rustic shops like these:





Our hotel, McCloud River Inn was a beautiful country Victorian. It has lovely lawns and woodlands and is a Nationally Registered Historic Inn.  As the former headquarters for the McCloud River Lumber Company and the home of McCloud's first bank, we saw some interesting artifacts and in case we missed the connection to lumber, many decorations and utensils made of saws constantly made references to the past.  Apparently, McCloud has large amount of snow in winter, demonstrated by the warning sign about the snow on the roof.










There was a long train track near our hotel and several rather well-kept cars sat there discretely:



During the breakfast, we learned from the hostess that there used to be a three-hour dining train ride, starting from McCloud and had attracted many tourists all year long.

According to the official website of Shasta Sunset Dinner Train, "the Dinner Train cars, with their deep "Pullman Green" and gold exterior finish, were originally built for the Illinois Central Railroad in 1916. Acquired in 1995, these "heavyweight" cars have been carefully rebuilt in the McCloud Railway's shops where meticulous attention to detail is evident in their rich mahogany and brass interiors. Our dining cars are named for north state counties Shasta, Siskiyou, and Lassen. Our Trinity car can be set up as a theater car for up to 70 people and can also be used for music and dancing."

The website also features the route and interiors of these glorious cars.  It is such a shame that they are no longer in operation and it is doubtful that they would come back, since I heard from locals that even the tracks had been ripped apart and sold years ago.  So sad.






Dance Car



The website also mentioned an hour-long Excursion Train, which is open air and starting from McCloud and it seemed to me that it was not in operation either.

Below is a compilation of videos of the Mt. Shasta and other peaks, shot on our way in and out of McCloud:




Related articles:
--> Coastal Northern California and Wine Country - Oregon Trip, Part 11 (The End)

--> Arcata, California - Oregon Trip, Part 10
--> Idyllic Parks and Cute Animals in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 9
--> Art in Ashland - Oregon Trip, Part 8
--> Natural Bridge and Crater Lake, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part7
--> It Got Better - Three Plays at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Oregon Trip, Part 6
--> Ashland Springs Hotel - Oregon Trip, Part 5
--> Ashland, Oregon - Oregon Trip, Part 4
--> A Night at McCloud, California - Oregon Trip, Part 3
--> Burney Falls in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Shasta County, California - Oregan Trip, Part 2
--> Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay, Redding, California - Oregon Trip, Part 1

Now and Then - Two Three-Year Old Paintings Updated

When I looked back at some of my old works, sometimes I was compelled to either renounce them or update them according to my current state of mind. Two paintings I finished about three years ago fell into this category and images below demonstrated the changes I made to these works:

- Heavenwards Ladder

Now:



Then:

















- Snowy Mountain, II

Now:



Then:
















I cannot say that the new versions are superior to the older ones. I can only say that they fit my current state of mind.