Helen Before the Storm

48” X 48” X 1.5”

Acrylic on Canvas

Most people had no idea that Mount Saint Helens was going to blow, not even us. And those that did, had no idea what was to come. Before that fateful day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everything was peaceful. That serene, idyllic scene is the inspiration for my painting. I didn’t know much about the mountain before its blast and wanted to create my own interpretation of what it might have been like.  I only knew about Saint Helens after her eruption.

On the 18th of May I was talking on the phone to my friend, Andrea.  “Why don’t you come up,” she said. “We can jump on my trampoline.” Me, my brother Rodney, and our two neighbor friends, Aaron and Curtis all made our way to Andrea’s house. Andrea let us in at the front door and escorted us through the house. We entered her backyard through a sliding glass door. Once in the yard we saw the trampoline.  It was about four feet by eight feet and laid flush with the ground. Beneath it was a two-foot-deep pit, dug out to compensate for the elastic give and take of the trampoline. We each took turns on the bouncy contraption, flipping and flopping and twisting and turning until it came time to leave. We said goodbye to Andrea, and the four of us began the long trek home.

After only a few blocks down the road, an unusual, ominous cloud came wafting in from the southwest dropping a heavy film of light grey ash over everything. “There must be a forest fire nearby,” Curtis explained.

When we got home, I heard on the radio that Mount Saint Helens had erupted. A few minutes later, Aaron came over to my house and I turned off the radio. “Did you hear the news?” Aaron asked excitedly. “Pretty cool,” I remarked. “Let’s go exploring,” Aaron said impatiently.

Mother Nature had been brewing a pot of disaster that eventually boiled over and grabbed everyone’s attention, including mine. But a naiveté narrative of life before the eruption inspired the brushstrokes, linework, and title of this intricate landscape.