The most important color in this sunset is gold. I wanted to use golden light instead of the customary flaming reds and other familiar “sunset colors.” I used the wind in much the same way as I did in Moonfire. But the wind is much stronger. It's coming off the shore right into your face - so to speak. You can imagine yourself standing there, your hair blowing back, being washed over by all this light and beauty.

The final touch is a soaring bald eagle. Although the eagle is physically only a small part of the picture, it really completes the print as an example of what lives in, and off, this environment. The whole feeling I wanted to paint was golden, fresh, pristine and windblown - pure wilderness. Purity is the word for what I was trying to achieve here. - SL