Saugeen Spring

I have finished a new painting that I've entered into the Art Map Landscape Calendar contest.  I don't get too excited about painting large spaces of green in landscapes, so it was a challenge to use this particular photo reference!  It was taken at a spot between Durham and Hanover, that I spotted a couple of years ago.  It was such a gorgeous sight in early spring that I stopped the car to take the photo.  The water and the sky were a brilliant, clear blue that took my breath away.  My dislike of painting pure landscapes (can't there be a barn? a house? at least a fence?) meant that I put off using the photo until I needed something exciting for the next calendar.  But there were all those cedar trees, looking the same except for their size.  I tried a couple of different styles for them, until I stayed with the shapes that you can see here.  Simple shapes.  Abstracted shapes.  Stylized shapes.  I like those shapes.  Simple shapes are good.  Even the reeds in the foreground turned into shapes.  Simple shapes.  Abstracted shapes.  Whether it gets in the calendar or not, I have learned lots by working through it.  But I still don't care for large spaces of green!  

Saugeen Spring
acrylic
20 X 30