Stephen Quiller

 2013 Louis Kaep Memorial Award-American Watercolor Society

 During the winter around 3:30 PM I emerged from my studio to go on a late
afternoon cross-country ski. While skiing on the cool shadow side of the mountain I
noticed the clarity of the sky and the warm sun and its outreaching arms forming an
orange cloisonne on the upper contour to the mountain. Observing with “soft eyes” I
became aware of a warm- blue, cool- blue shadow pattern. I also saw a strong
asymmetric vertical beat of the near black spruce and foreground aspen trunks. The
trees were connected by soft diagonal banding threads of snow fields. Pulling out the
sketch book I made some notes with my cold ungloved hand. This idea has been
enough for an ongoing theme.