Watercolor on paper , 5” X 8.25”; plein air, Bhutan

This watercolor study captures the open sweep of Phobjikha Valley: its quiet pastures, long soft ridgelines, and the slow, luminous movement of cloud across sky. Light falls in alternating bands of green and gold, as though the land itself is breathing, shadow to sun, mist to clarity. A river threads through the fields below, guiding the eye gently across the page like a path walked in memory.

Painted on site, this study holds the immediacy of looking - wind, light shift, and the calm spaciousness of the valley. The brushwork remains loose and responsive, leaving room for atmosphere, distance, and that sense of stillness for which Phobjikha is known.

A moment of landscape and quiet presence; the valley rendered simply, yet fully alive.