Sally Wakelin – Studies in Creativity
Paintings, drawings, sculpture and writing
Riding up and down Mammoth Mountain in the cable car, the parched ground below was sparsely populated by hardy hikers walking slowly up and masses of crazy mountain bikers riding very fast downhill.
Not all the lifts are running now, the Summer season has ended and there’s no sign of snow yet. The bikers are thrilled to get the lifts and the cable car to themselves and make several trips each day, gathering in teams at the top to race each other down.
Driving for 6 hours from San Diego to Mammoth Mountain. Somewhere just south of Lake Crowley heading north on HWY 395, the scorched plains at last gave way to greener pastures where numerous black grass-fed cattle eat to their hearts’ content. The sky so blue and the sloping hills touched with lilac, an idyllic scene after the endless miles of barren flatlands we passed through on the way.
Fantastic views of this glorious range of mountains, tricky to photograph through the smeary windows, I’m hoping to capture their spirit in a watercolour painting, impossible to do en plain air, the summit is a dusty windy place with nowhere suitable for paper and paint.
A misty day in May.
The crenelated towers were challenging, angles and details impossible to capture correctly with my left hand.
I thought maybe the colours were too intense so I washed the whole painting with cold water and then brushed away at the paint with an old toothbrush. I’ve never thought to do that be for but I like the grainy look it brings, as though your eyes are fighting against mist and fading eyesight to focus clearly on what is in front of you.
Sally Wakelin - Studies in Creativity 
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