The Making of a Painting - River Spirit

Painting on location in Camp Verde, AZ

 

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”

- Rumi

There's nothing as refreshing as finding a river in the desert. After five years of living in Camp Verde, Arizona, I discovered this location just across the parking lot from our local library. Wow! I was stunned. The part of town I live in is pure desert - hot and dry. It's gloriously beautiful with the mountain ranges surrounding me. The hiking is spectacular. But it's dry! Having a beautiful oasis nearby is so refreshing - the water and the green color are healing and quenching.

Painting on location in Camp Verde, Arizona USA

I grabbed a piece I had worked on years ago and was never really happy with it. I used it as the background for this painting. The intensity of the red-orange backdrop compliments the colors of the blues and greens in the work.

The painting might not be finished. It's sitting so I can contemplate its completion.

“A dream is like a river ever changing as it flows and a dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes.”      

- Garth Brooks

Me, Mary Rush at the river painting in Camp Verde, Arizona
Photo credit Jill Langley.