North America 45n 120w

Creative Rationale

Over the Columbia River Plateau in eastern Washington state, where the coordinates 45°N, 120°W place us in the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, an unusual atmospheric pattern emerges with extremely low pressure and moderate westerly winds cutting through the high desert landscape. The bitter cold temperature of 11.6 K drives a palette toward icy blues and muted earth tones with crystalline white expanses, while the low pressure creates dense accumulations of saturated color pooling at the canvas edges. The moderate wind from 283 degrees pushes these color masses in energetic splatters and flows from northwest to southeast, leaving Francis's characteristic luminous breathing space dominating the center.