The Rain Dances (Sunset, Wednesday, 12 October 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, THE RAIN DANCES (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Rainstorm in a Cat’s-Eye (Sunset, Saturday, 1 October 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, RAINSTORM IN A CAT’S-EYE (Sunset from Route 15, Oatlands, Loudoun County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

One of those moments when it’s raining but it looks like skies will soon clear. (They didn’t!) I was on my way back from the Michael Douglas Jones exhibit UNION: The Courier Journals, 1861-1865, at the Delaplaine Center, Frederick, Md. The room is deceptively small; in terms of its imagination, depth, artistry, and implications for our nation’s history, the show is immense. A signal achievement.

Home in the Clouds (Sunset, Sunday, 25 September 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, HOME IN THE CLOUDS (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Too Much Rain Could Turn Anyone Into a Fauvist (Sunset, Tuesday, 6 September 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, TOO MUCH RAIN COULD TURN ANYONE INTO A FAUVIST (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

To the Windward of Lee (Sunset, Monday, Labor Day, 5 September 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, TO THE WINDWARD OF LEE (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Not sure what it really means to be to the “windward” of a [former] tropical storm, but ... works for me. Heavy rain just beginning.

OBZ from OBX (Sunset, Saturday, 27 August 2011)

William Theodore Van Doren, OBZ FROM OBX (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Outer bands from the Outer Banks.

Hurricanes, even at some distance, create strange atmospheres and bizarre light that can be sick in both senses of the term. This was the middle phase of three surreal skies in quick succession.