Moon-ish River

I took a picture of the moon rising over the 

Des Moines River this winter.

I played around with it in watercolor this week at art class.

Bill Teeple kept encouraging me to simplify.

This is always hard for me.

I'm a wordy/detail kinda gal.

I did various versions and struggled with my usual inability to take

the image dark enough without losing luminosity.

I like this one best although it has more color than I intended.

Bill thought that the backlighting from the iPad

 helped to enhance the glow.

A runny one.

Now if I can do one that is runny/watery and dark?

Next time.

Isn't this one great?

It is..... the PHOTO!

I really should try this in oil but love the challenge of watercolor.

Redbuds

I realized yesterday when I was taking down my show 

at the Keokuk Art Center

 that I had never posted some of the larger

 non - "30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge" paintings.

Arbor Dance  

12 x 20 - oil on panel

I did a pastel of these redbuds at a Doug Dawson workshop in St. Louis

a number of years ago.  

I have shown that painting but have never offered it for sale. 

It was a "mile marker " of a sort and I have kept it

 as a reminder of the benefits of simplification.

I have always wanted to see if I could reproduce the freshness 

of that pastel in oil paint.

It is similar but altogether a different beast.

The colors are more powerful in oil, 

the pastel has a more ephemeral quality.

These little redbuds are now in the gallery 

at the Fort Madison Art Center

where I hope they will inspire spring to come a little more quickly.