Down by the River

Oil on Board, 6 x 8 inches

Got this little painting completed this afternoon. It's on the River Welland, on a favourite bend where it turns around the Sallow in the centre here and traverses across the shallows, where, in high summer, I love to get into the river and feel at one with nature. The current is strong, but being only about 18 inches deep, it's a joy to wade through and feel the ice-cold water.

 

You can just make out the river-bed where I've denoted it with a few orangey-brown streaks in the water and the Duckweed in the right foreground. Right up my street in terms of subject matter, and so reminiscent of my childhood down by the River Cherwell in Banbury. Happy days with my mates, catching Minnows and Sticklebacks and Bullheads in our hands by lowering our fingers into the water gently. Bullheads, rather ugly looking brown bottom-feeders, are also called Miller's Thumb because of the gnarled look about them.