This was my first attempt at painting wisps of fog as well as water that is predominantly brown. Also, I experimented with what is called ‘negative painting’ for the roots on the bank. The dark areas between the roots were painted, rather that the roots themselves.

For me, it is imperative to put the finishing touches on my pieces as shortly after painting on location, as possible, because the sense of what captured my enthusiasm quickly fades. I have only recently begun to complete a piece on location. The difficulty in completing a piece occurs when I do not know how to resolve a difficult section. I have sat before a piece that I didn’t have a clue how to finish, with my paint brush in hand and prayed for assistance. A friend once said, “Can’t you just take a workshop?” I believe that no matter how many workshops we take, books and magazines we read, each painting offers up its own dilemmas and we are the only ones who can resolve them. Sometimes, through the course of working out the painting problems, I feel a connection with artists from the past. I am sure that they sat struggling just I did.