{"id":3816,"date":"2026-05-18T13:18:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/?page_id=3816"},"modified":"2026-05-18T13:18:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:18:37","slug":"mike-branca-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/mike-branca-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Branca"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1013\" src=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-26-at-20.02.27-1024x1013.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-26-at-20.02.27-1024x1013.png 1024w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-26-at-20.02.27-300x297.png 300w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-26-at-20.02.27-768x760.png 768w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-26-at-20.02.27.png 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mike Branca, <em>Chimney Pond Sunrise (After Church)<\/em>, oil on canvas, 10 x 10 in., 2015.<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the challenges of plein air painting are anticipating the light and knowing when to snag it. To capture the desired effect on this cool September morning, I was out of my sleeping bag and at my easel ahead of sunrise. As the first hint of dawn turned the sky from black to deep indigo, I roughed in the silhouette of the Knife Edge and the contours of the Great Basin. The light increased, and I was able to make some color choices to indicate rock, water, and trees. Finally, a warm spotlight began to illuminate a few select peaks, and light slowly poured down from the Tablelands. I made a decision to freeze time in the next heartbeat, locking my focus on a particular triangle of brilliance. As I rushed to complete the painting, the scene in front of me became less and less like its depiction on the canvas. My triangle now only existed in brushstrokes, a reminder of a moment gone by, blurring the boundary between observation and memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Among the challenges of plein air painting are anticipating the light and knowing when to snag it. To capture the desired effect on this cool September morning, I was out of my sleeping bag and at my easel ahead of sunrise. As the first hint of dawn turned the sky from black to deep indigo, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17810,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17810"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3816"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3948,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3816\/revisions\/3948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/lcbates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}