Mount Shasta southwestern face at sunset, original landscape painting

Mount Shasta Sunset – Southwestern Face | 24 x 12 x 1.5 inches | Water soluble wax paint on wood panel | Private Collection

MOUNT SHASTA SUNSET – SOUTHWESTERN FACE

A ‘LITTLE GEM’ IN THE FACES OF THE MOUNTAIN COLLECTION

Mount Shasta Sunset is a small but luminous work in the Faces of the Mountain collection, capturing the southwestern face of Mount Shasta as it receives the last light of day. Though modest in scale, the painting holds a deep sense of warmth, welcome, and spaciousness—qualities that feel intrinsic to this particular aspect of the mountain.

This painting came from an spontaneous moment. I was driving past the town of Mount Shasta as the sun was setting, and the light was so striking I pulled off the highway just to watch. I stood there for a while, taking photos as the colors shifted—warm clouds behind the mountain, shadows rising slowly up the snow, alpenglow lingering longer than expected. This image grew from that moment of pause, of noticing, of being quietly met by the mountain rather than seeking it out.

Detail of Mount Shasta southwestern face at sunset, original landscape painting

Detail of Mount Shasta sunset painting showing warm alpenglow and rising shadows

The southwestern face of Mount Shasta has always felt uniquely open to me. Where other sides of the mountain can feel imposing or remote, this orientation carries a sense of invitation. The two visible humps—Shastina and the main summit—read almost like a gesture of welcome, a wide, gentle embrace. There is something deeply inviting in that form: the feeling of being held, or greeted by a trusted friend.

In this painting, that openness is amplified by the light of sunset. Soft clouds in tones of orange, yellow, and salmon drift behind the mountain, creating a glowing backdrop that feels both expansive and intimate. As the sun lowers, shadows begin their slow climb—stretching across the valley and rising up the mountain’s snowy slopes. What was once white becomes subtly blue, tinted by the cooling air and fading light.

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At the same time, areas still touched by the sun ignite with warmth. Peach, gold, and soft orange tones emerge in pockets of alpenglow, creating a quiet dialogue between warmth and coolness, illumination and retreat. These contrasts—solar warmth alongside deepening shadow—are part of what gives this painting its sense of balance and presence.

This work holds what I think of as a solar space: an image that brings warmth without intensity, brightness without glare. It’s the kind of painting that doesn’t demand attention, but rewards it. A piece that supports a room rather than dominates it—ideal for spaces of reflection, rest, or creative flow.

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As part of the Faces of the Mountain collection, this painting is less about documenting a landscape and more about capturing a lived relationship with place. Each work in the series reflects not just how Mount Shasta appears, but how it feels—how different faces of the mountain meet us emotionally, energetically, and symbolically.

The ‘Little Gems’ of this collection allow me to explore multiple facets of Mt Shasta – different light, perspectives, and conditions, that I may develop into larger paintings. Misty Morning is another little gem, that is atmospheric only revealing Mount Shasta in glimpses.

Mount Shasta Sunset feels like a moment of welcome. A pause at the end of the day. A reminder that even as light fades, warmth remains—held quietly in the land, and in us.

Mount Shasta Sunset – Southwestern Face

24 x 12 x 1.5 inches

Water soluble wax paint on wood panel