The Creek

From Memory

Out in the Open

So my husband and I disappeared into the wilderness for a weekend. I always take my paints with me. This time I took more than my portable studio which fits into a purse. This time I took the tripod and my screw-in table top with a full set of paints and brushes so I could work on 11” x 15” instead of 5” x 7”. I like the larger size and I do not always have a couple of hours to spend on a sketch. The light was magnificent the night we arrived. We took the short walk down a path to where the washout jointed the creek again. Water was still trickling trough but the bush had begun to reclaim its space. I did not have my camera….when will I learn? I made some mental notes. The next two days were filled with exploring the new territory so on the morning we were to leave I got up early and installed myself beside the water’s edge. It was overcast but looked less like rain than the previous evening. I set about doing the preliminary drawing knowing that it would consume most of the time and hoping the light would change. Part way through the early sun managed to peek through the clouds and light up the opposite bank. Lovely. Not as magnificent as the evening but lovely nonetheless. I made a mental note. Mental notes are essential as light effects rarely last for more than a few seconds. There was another problem that morning. It was cold. Of course we were at approximately five thousand feet so it does not get really warm ordinarily. My feet were freezing, or they felt like they were freezing. My fingers were becoming less cooperative and refused to hold the brushes on occasion. I decided to leave the rest for memory and my studio. Packing up I could almost smell the coffee and I wondered what delight awaited me for breakfast.