Gracie the goose woke before the sun, feathers damp with fog. She waddled in the pool of water at Staunton Farm as the sky bloomed pink and gold. Mist curled over the grasses while the countryside slept. Gracie watched the quiet light ripple across the water, knowing morning had begun gently, just for her. Crickets hushed, wings stretched, hearts calmed, she greeted the day without hurry.
Gracie at Dawn came from a quiet pull toward color, light, and atmosphere. I was drawn first to the pink skies—those soft, fleeting tones that exist only for a moment before the day fully wakes. There’s something tender about that time of morning, when everything feels hushed and suspended, as if the world is holding its breath.
The fog in the background became both a challenge and a conversation within the piece. Fog is elusive by nature; it’s there, but never fully defined. Translating that softness into paint required restraint—knowing when to stop, when to let suggestion speak louder than detail. I’m especially happy with how the fog settled into the composition, not as something heavy or obscuring, but as a gentle veil that adds depth and quiet mystery.
I’ve always had an obsession with sunrises and sunsets. They feel like daily rituals of color and emotion, endlessly familiar yet never the same. For over a decade, living in the city, I missed so many of them. Buildings replaced horizons, and mornings moved too quickly to notice the sky changing above them. That absence lingered more than I realized.
Since moving to the country, the sky has become one of my favorite parts of daily life. Wide open spaces offer uninterrupted views—sunrises unfolding slowly, sunsets stretching across fields and hills. The colors feel bigger here, more honest. Pink skies have room to breathe. Fog rolls in without competition, softening the landscape instead of disappearing behind concrete.
Gracie at Dawn is a reflection of that return—to noticing, to slowing down, to watching the day begin. It’s about reclaiming those moments I once missed and honoring the quiet beauty that comes with wide horizons and early light.
This original alla prima oil painting by Elizabeth Gleason captures the quiet magic of early morning, when sunrise light softens the land and fog lingers low across the fields. Painted wet-into-wet in a single session, the work embraces loose, expressive brushstrokes and layered color to convey atmosphere and movement. Warm dawn hues blend with cool greens and misty grays, while a lone bird moves gently through the water, anchoring the scene in calm reflection. The painting evokes stillness, renewal, and the hush of a day just beginning.
- Original Oil Painting done in Alla Prima, which means that these paintings are done in one session wet on wet oil technique, which gives a looser look to the work.
- Artwork Size: 5″ x 7″
- Oil on primed wood panel
- Frame Not Included. The sides are painted.
- Wesleyville Collection
- Created January 2025