Painting Washington State’s Tahoma (Mount Rainier)

Tahoma, which means “the mother of waters” is the native name for Washington State’s greatest mountain, Mount Rainier. It’s a mountain that has a very special place in my heart.

When I started this painting of Mount Rainier I was living out in the woods about an hour and half northeast of Seattle. I had already started my slow withdrawal from the place I had called home for 29 years. I would soon leave Washington State to live in Portland, where this painting was actually finished. But for all those years this beauty was never far away and almost always visible in the background.

To understand the importance of this mountain you have to have at least been to Washington and seen it for yourself, or better yet spent time on her surface, maybe walking one of the wildflower trails in spiring. But to truly appreciate this mountain I think you need to live in her vicinity for many years.

No matter where you are in Washington it seems like the mountain is always there in the background, either softly veiled in atmosphere, vividly lit in sunlight or magesticly painted in the magical hues of an evening sunset. Rainier is the number one icon for the Seattle area. It’s not the sports teams like the Mariners or the Seahawks and it’s not the Space Needle that people really feel impacted by in their bones, It’s The Mountain.

I actually rarely spent time at Rainier but when I did go I was always keenly aware of her ominous power, quietly radiating a force of great confidence, stability and intelligence. Originally called Tahoma by the natives, it was renamed by Captain George Vancouver in the late 1800s in honor of a friend of his and that’s now the common name. Rainier is a volcano and is one of many volcanoes that circle the globe along a path called the Ring of Fire. She is dormant and has never shown signs of activity as far as I know, not like her closest neighbor Mount Saint Helens which erupted with earth shaking force on May 8th 1980. Rainier is peaceful but if she were to awaken, we should be concerned.

In painting this portrait of my favorite mountain I wanted to capture her magic and mystery. I knew there would have to be lots of mist! I chose a photo of the mountain to work from but there was almost none of the surrounding landscape visible in the photo so I had to invent it from my imagination. This is one of my favorite things to do, merging the real with fantasy. Why stick to reality when I have a license as an artist to paint what I feel rather than simply what I see. This is especially rewarding in the sky of this painting where I chose to express it as pure movement of energy rather than simply the average sky with nice clouds.

This painting is still in my personal collection as of spring of 2024 and it has yet to be displayed in public. I’m not opposed to selling it but it’s a special painting to me and I hope that it can live with me for awhile before it finds it’s forever home.

Thanks for reading my story about my painting of the PNW’s favorite mountain. If you liked the story or you have something to say about your own experience with Mount Rainier, please comment below.