A Blizzard Rain

"Reflections Before Blizzard Rain" is a watercolor and acrylic medium painting on a deeply cradled board 12" square. This memory of the morning was painted over an attempt to make a "Blizzard Rainstorm on the River." Without color hue and contrast from dark to light I did not have paint to make enough texture. But I have a clear idea for a painting to do of the blizzard rain. The rain was not like a down pour. The wind blew it as snow is blown.



A blizzard rain pockmarked the river like many toes sprinting to the finish.
There wasn't much color change - only great textures on the move.
Sitting at my RV window overlooking one blast after another racing with the tidal flow, I observe the water receding. At slack tide the quick fishing fishermen pulled up their anchors and returned to the marina. Seeing my husband coming, in seconds I screwed on the caps to my few watercolor tubes, screwed on the lid to my matte medium acrylic and stored all my painting stuff in the basement.
Tomorrow perhaps the painting will be dry enough to photograph.

The past two weeks I have been painting for an outdoor art festival sale this coming Saturday and Sunday in Lincoln City, Oregon. I feel these paintings are more about making something I suppose will sell and less about living my life. So today I made one about the rain that drenched my husband while I was happy to be back in the RV having enjoyed the boat ride earlier in the day.

It is tomorrow. Before day break my husband returned to the river and made his way between other boats each with a light bulb and a green and red light to indicate their direction of travel. Bait fish jump at the water's edge catching the lights splashing and flashing. Maybe yesterday there were a hundred fisherman and three Chinook were caught. Will the Salmon run begin today after the rain or is it just a poor year?

The Oregon Hatchery Research Center asks artists to give their time to instruct others on seeing the nature of fisheries through the artist's perception. I will be teaching River Trip, Watercolor Journaling, one of the workshops, November 3, at the Fall Creek Hatchery on highway 34 between Philomath and Waldport. The workshop is free but preregistration is required.