I have spent many hours on the trails surrounding the San Gabriel Valley. We were hiking on the John Muir Trail above Sierra Madre, California, and the air was dense with a misty marine layer. Yet where we were standing the wildflowers were hit with the first rays of sunlight, richly glowing, reminding us that, like most Southern Californians say, "It will burn off", meaning the fog usually lifts by noon. I used some mineral pigments in this painting. I love their granulating and sometimes reflective properties. I feel that using pigments derived straight from the earth, many from the area they are depicting, adds an extra layer of authenticity to my work.