Original oil painting by Colter May. Currently available at Corwin Galleries.
 
My time living in Idaho was more difficult than I anticipated. I was challenged intellectually, physically, and emotionally in ways that lead to an incredible amount of growth but also left some aches from strains in those areas.

No doubt, living through Covid there and enduring long windy winters has contributed to some of those sour memories. However, in Idaho I found some of the most brilliant skies.

My favorite spots where behind town where a break in the cap rock elevated you above the flat of the snake river plane. I would often run by potato fields and watch the clouds catch light as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Incredibly, these runs were some of the most peaceful yet invigorating moments of my life. It’s no surprise then that over a year after moving away I found myself coming back to explore this scene again in paint.

In a way, this painting reminds me of the conflicting forces at play in a given place. In Idaho I found:

hope and discouragement
Peace and turmoil
Brilliant pink and icky brown

This piece reminds me to look past difficult memories with grace and look forward to the brilliance that is possible in the same space.