Sky 6

9.5x6.5 inches, watercolor on paper

$65, US shipping $7.50; email for international shipping

Amongst the thousands of cloud images I've shot and collected over the years, there's one I tend to use more than all the others—I think it's torn from a big glossy car brochure created in the mid 1970s. I drag it out, set it near the untouched paper, and then ignore it. It's like music; I dance to it rather than refer to it.

But now I'm ready to study some cloud pix; treat 'em like portraits, really knuckle down… Well, at least I'll set the switch point at mid-way instead of right at the beginning. And I'll certainly refer to cloud paintings as well as cloud photos; gotta check out the glorious fictions along with the documentaries.

I love N. C. Wyeth's way of painting clouds; he can really get you looking up and feeling the cloud stacking order, flying in and out of the rising ramparts, drinking in the different air up there. He's the patron saint of my next few posts, and will I hope continue to whistle in my ear from here on out.