NEOWISE and Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

In summer of 2020, Comet NEOWISE graced the night skies over Yosemite for a few weeks. I photographed and painted the comet from numerous locations on the rim of Yosemite Valley and from the valley floor. With each evening, the moon grew brighter in the sky and I knew only a few days remained to capture a unique scene of the comet over El Capitan. The Ahwahneechee called the great rock chief Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La. One of the last evenings that the comet was visible I set up my easel on the valley floor and painted a plein air 8x6 of this scene as a great horned owl hooted in the trees surrounding me. That plein air painting served as the reference for this studio piece which conveys the essence of that unique experience.