Inspiration for Storm over Hermit's Peak

Hermit's Peak is the outstanding landscape feature in the part of northern New Mexico where I live. You can see it for miles around as it juts up above the high plains. I'd been doing a series of paintings of the mountain, and wanted to add a summer scene. We get some great thunderstorms complete with big hailstones here, so an imminent storm seemed appropriate. I photographed lots of heavy-looking clouds before choosing these. I placed Hermit's Peak near the bottom of the painting to emphasize the heavy feeling of the approaching storm.