Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Brush Creek

When I arrived at the ranch on May 1, the cottonwood and aspen groves along the creek were still mostly dormant. A Rocky Mountain winter takes a long time to let go. This particular place looked like it flooded repeatedly. There were rocks strewn about, broken trees and lots of dead vegetative stuff in heaps. It looked like a bone yard. But cottonwoods, despite their relatively short messy lives, are genuinely majestic. In the two weeks I was there, this circle of trees came alive! High above the chaos on the meadow beneath them, the branches sprouted tender new leaves and the atmosphere became ethereal.
oil on canvas 40x54


available work

5 comments:

Maureen said...

Must have been a beautiful place to spend time.

SamArtDog said...

I love seeing this progression.
Your prose is pretty delightful, too.

Carol Marine said...

Brilliant, as usual!

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks for sharing the progression - it was almost like a time lapsed photo, seeing the trees blossom out and fill in the landscape.

Melissa Adams said...

This is gorgeous! I love seeing the progression of your work, and how you used dripping paint to create the reflections of the trees on the water. Brilliant!