Driskell completed a number of works during his summer residency at Yaddo, a legendary nonprofit retreat for professional creative artists and writers located on a 400-acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Founded by Spencer and Katrina Trask in 1900, Yaddo is one of the preeminent artists' residencies in the United States. Nestled in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, includes the Yaddo Mansion, communal and private living accomodations, and studio space for artists in residence. "Some believe that the land itself at Yaddo is the source of mystical creative power". An artist who found joy in experimentation regardless of media, he took full advantage of the splendor and quietude of Yaddo for such. Inspired by the environs, Driskell made wall hangings and small sculptures from saplings, grape-vines, and other ecological materials, and paintings that exploded with color and new forms. In "Eruption, Mt. Saint Helens", the "write writing," or decorative script pattern, used by Driskell since the 1960s-an imaginative amalgam.

Several works reference one of the great natural disasters of the day: "Eruption, Mount St. Helens", "Mount St. Helens", "Veil; and Movement, the Mountain". The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, lasted nine hours, sent mushroom-shaped plumes of ash over the surrounding area, and drastically changed the nearby landscape. Photographs and narrative accounts of the event vividly document nature's caprice and power. "[T]he north face of this ... mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche... [A] turbulent, stone-filled wind ... swept over ridges and toppled trees. Nearly 150 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing."9 Eruption, Mount St. Helens captures the essence of the seismic event. The roiling gasses, lava, and hurled rocks are conveyed by Driskell's signature calligraphic brushwork. In the upper half of the composition, we see an ash-strewn atmosphere colored by a blazing sun.