There are moments on a river when the distinction between what is above the water and what lies beneath it begins to disappear. Reflected sky moves across the surface in cool blues and violets, while warm amber, rust, and gold rise from the shallow riverbed below. Small ripples break those colors apart and put them back together again, leading the eye upstream toward a sunlit opening surrounded by trees.
This soft pastel painting is as much about color and movement as it is about the river itself. Loose, horizontal marks follow the rhythm of the current, while the low viewpoint brings the viewer close to the surface of the water. Cool reflections against warm underwater color create depth without losing the quiet simplicity of the scene. It captures one of the things I find most compelling about painting water: it never really holds still, and neither does the light within it.
