The First Rains of Fall...

Here in the California foothills town of Nevada City, we have survived another year of climate change. Dry conditions have contributed to some of the most devastating wildfires in our state’s history.

Today, the first drops of rain fell from a series of storms that promise to ease our minds and quench some of the still burning fires in our region. To celebrate I decided to go down to the river and capture the drops of gold as they fell from the sky. The rain also represents the tears of the many lost in the fires, their loved ones, and the rest of us collectively as we grieve these losses of life and property.

Pre-Raphaelite Concept

I've long been inspired by the works of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. These paintings are very feminine and beautiful, but they were considered to be highly controversial, ugly, and jarring at the time of their painting. In 1848, a few young British painters banded together to oppose the idealization of the painter Raphael by the Royal Academy. The name, Pre-Raphaelite, comes from their inspiration by the Italian artists before the time of Raphael, the 14th and 15th centuries.