Between Storms (Sunset, Tuesday, 26 April 2011)

William Van Doren, BETWEEN STORMS (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Before Me the Deluge (Sunset, Saturday, 16 April 2011)

William Van Doren, BEFORE ME THE DELUGE (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Hail Sunset (Sunset, Tuesday, 12 April 2011)

William Van Doren, HAIL SUNSET (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Thunder, lightning, heavy rain and hail, at sunset.

Chance of Sunset 100% (Sunset, Wednesday, 23 March 2011)

William Van Doren, CHANCE OF SUNSET 100% (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

Lightning at Sunset (Monday, 21 March 2011)

William Van Doren, LIGHTNING AT SUNSET (Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va.) Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

‘Sinister Kid’ Sunset, Wednesday, 4 August 2010

William Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 13 x 19.

This was one of the craziest sunsets I can remember. Fifteen minutes earlier we were drowning in a violent thunderstorm and heavy downpours. Just at sunset, with rain and lightning still happening here in the foreground, the horizon lifted. I had a difficult time believing it, much less facing how to handle it.

I needed music. The I-Ching (iPod) was obliging, starting me with Van Morrison’s “Tore Down à la Rimbaud,” which pretty much describes my psychological starting point. Next, “Smoky Places” by The Corsairs – exactly. By the time I was finishing and signing, “Sinister Kid” by The Black Keys was somehow really the signature for the piece, not in a literal way, but better, in the energy.

Then, while wrapping up, it was nice to have Clarence Carter, “Slip Away” ...