Paintings of Bull Run Mountain
The Bull Run Mountain range runs for about 15 miles from Aldie in Loudoun County to New Baltimore in Fauquier County. In Haymarket, the mountain is home to both the Bull Run Mountain Conservancy and many neighbors in the Bull Run Mountain Estates.
Living in the area, I get to see the mountains daily and I enjoyed using them as a subject of the landscape paintings you see in this post. This painting shows the beautiful drive up to the mountain and how majestic the sky and clouds often look above the mountain:
The mountain is calm and often quiet. Sometimes when it rains, the mountain disappears under the clouds and mist.
As you drive down the road towards the mountain, you can see some of the homes on the mountain peeking out between the trees. These homes make up the Bull Run Mountain Estates. This Washington Post article from 1987 talks about the mountains as a rural retreat from the urban rush of Northern Virginia. While much has changed in the surrounding areas since the 80’s, the mountain still retains much of its rural charm.
As you drive towards the mountain, there are more homes than there were in years past but the roads are still lined with farmland (for now). It’s relaxing to see the open fields of crops and wildflowers.
The mountain is home to a lot of history including, like many places in our area, Civil War history. In the last year, Barinaale Dube has been expanding our historical knowledge of the mountain by working on cataloging black history on the mountain.
Radio towers dot the tops of the mountains. While the Bull Run Mountains aren’t particularly tall as far as mountains go, they are still taller than the surrounding areas and give plenty of visibility to any towers on top.
Just as those around the mountain can clearly see the towers on top of the mountain, the people living at the top of the mountain have great views of everything below the mountain. On a clear day, some residents at the top are able to see Tyson’s Corner and the Washington Monument from their property.
The mountain is always in the background as you drive around Haymarket. I love seeing it as I drive up and down 15, as shown in the paintings above and below. The mountain happily peeks over the treetops.
Bull Run Mountain is a beautiful work of nature and I’m happy to include it in my art. I hope this post has taught you more about the mountains.
Learn more about the other landscape paintings in this collection: