Brook

Nothing happened this morning except that I carried my stuff back to the cow pasture with the stream running through it, and I painted a 12x16 oil on panel painting.

Brook and Paw Spans

This time I painted from a small wooden bridge that spans the brook.  Sections of the bridge planks are pitched at different angles and not level at all.  Also early in the morning the planks are wet and slippery.  This morning I noticed something new, large scratch marks, from a creature crossing the bridge with difficulty requiring the use of claws to maintain balance.  The claw marks were as wide as my hand, so I suspect that a bear uses the same bridge, fortunately, at a different time of day.

On the Rocks

Recently, I saw on FB a photo of painter Cynthia Rosen climbing over rocks in a stream in the Adirondacks to reach a better place to paint.  I can do that, I thought, and not even leave home.  So this morning I climbed down to some rocks in the middle of the Hitchcock Brook to paint.  I had to build a small cairn to hold my umbrella.  I dispersed the stones afterwards to keep the natural look.  This is a place where the cows do roam, but none were in sight.  Actually, the cows are the same that sometimes occupy the  hill behind the Clark Art Institute.  That's presumably where they are now.