Located on the edge of Zion National Park, Grafton is a historic ghost town established along the Virgin River in 1859. The last residents left in 1944. Five structures remain and have been restored, one being an adorable church. I spent several days painting in Grafton for a Plein Air workshop, and I wasn’t having much success until the last day. Walking back from a field I hadn’t explored, I realized that the back of this house had the best composition. A ravine draws your eyes to the house, and the cloud formation returns your eyes from the sky to the house. It was one of those paintings that could almost paint itself; I was simply in charge of the execution. I snapped a photo and worked on it months later in my home studio.