Sunlight on quartz rocks, approaching storm

I painted rapidly to capture this electrifying scene as the storm was approaching. One of my larger landscapes, it required a sturdy makeshift easel to prevent it from blowing over in the wind. To assemble the easel on the spot, I drove two stakes into the ground with a rock, securing the Masonite to the stakes with four G-clamps at the corners. Often red dust would blow onto the painting and settle on my palette, becoming part of the oil-paint texture.