River Shadows

 Oil on Board, 10 x 14 inches

This painting was also one I did as a demo to the Castor and Ailsworth Art Society a couple of weeks ago, and finished off today.

Stop press! I looked at the painting with fresh eyes this morning and decided it was a little too dark in places and din't quite capture the intense brightness of an early morning frosty light, so I reworked it and am now much happier with it. I also took out the dark tree on the left, which on reflection competed too much with the dark mass on the right - the joy of oil paint, being able to edit and lighten, after you've 'finished' a painting!

It's a view from the bridge over the River Welland in a village called Harringworth near me, famous for the Harringworth Viaduct. The strong morning sunshine cast stripes of light and shadow across the water beyond the foreground bank of trees on the right. Although we are still having early frosts, these sharp mornings are fast being taken over by signs of Spring, with birdsong now very evident, Blackbirds and Songthrushes exulting, and the huge Red Kites and Buzzards pewing, and the diminutive Wrens bellowing out jubilant claims for their territories and calls for mates, and we even had a pair of Yellowhammers 'cheesing' in the garden yesterday. Soon the lanes will be green with the first flush of leaves...aaaah, bliss, a new year!