Painting of the Day, November 6, 2011
By Donna Poulton
The night is dark. The moon will rise late, and when it does, I will be up. I have a canvas ready and a fresh candle in my lantern. My tent is insect-proof. My bed is a bag filled with pine fronds and covered with several layers of blankets. My pillow is my coat and overalls rolled up. I sleep deliciously. Through some unconscious working of the mind, I wake up because the moon is shining through the sides of my tent…I gather up my canvas and paint box and make my way to the spot selected for the painting of moonlight. On a stick stuck in a crack of the overhanging ledge, I hang the lantern and start in furiously [to paint]… -- William R. Leigh
Credit: Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts
William R. Leigh (1866-1955), Rainbow Bridge by Moonlight, c.1922, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 in., Private Collection