The weather has long been a muse for artists. For Louisa McElwain (1953-2013), an American painter based in the southwest, summer storms were particularly special.

According to Evoke Contemporary, the gallery that represents her estate, McElwain was drawn to “the way the light changes and the clouds dance across the horizon ahead of the rain.” While visiting the Phoenix Art Museum recently, I came across her 2009 piece, Desert Rain God.

This large-scale oil on canvas painting captures a storm in the New Mexico desert just as a dramatic downpour is starting. These storms, largely associated with Monsoon Season in the southwest, are a vital source of moisture in the arid region.

Working outdoors, using the bed of her pick-up truck as sort of mobile studio, McElwain’s paintings aimed to capture her experience of nature. In a statement, she described her approach to painting as a “dance made to the tempo of the evolving day”.  Working quickly to depict the changing effects of the atmosphere, she often used palette knives and masonry trowels to apply paint to the canvas. These tools allowed her to avoid being overly descriptive and to create an impasto effect. Most of her paintings, regardless of size, were completed in less than four hours.

Louisa McElwain’s “Desert Rain God” on display in the Phoenix Art Museum. Photo Credit: Melissa Fleming