As an artist, one of the joys and challenges of living in Kansas City is how quickly weather conditions can change. Although I grew up in the Midwest, San Diego was my home for 30 years, and the weather there is relatively constant. Here, it can really keep you guessing. And sometimes, it will blow your canvas off and topple your easel if you haven’t battened them down well (spoken from experience)!

This one was inspired by one of those spontaneous rapid changes. This early evening, I didn’t set out to paint. I was merely walking to the market to pick up a few things when a spring squall blew through. Within minutes, the skies clouded over and peppered down hard rain for several minutes, sending people scurrying for cover. Then, as quickly as the storm had come on, it started to move away. I set out for home, and came across a brilliant sky full of clouds that were shape-shifting, opening on the horizon to reveal the start of a brilliant sunset of incredible pink and orange hues. People popped out their umbrellas and ventured away from the refuges they had found during the storm.

Since I didn’t have paints or a sketchbook, I started shooting pictures as quickly as I could, because I knew these colors wouldn’t last long. Fortunately, they helped trigger my memory as I later painted this scene. One of those memories is how the interior lights of the streetcar were mirrored on the street, and the taillight reflections trailed in the remaining gentle rain—details my photos didn’t reveal well.

My goal with this particular piece was to capture as much of this feeling and energy as possible. To tell the story of a sky moving sideways, and the mood that it creates.