Mill Creek Rush / pastel

There is something exciting that happens when you come upon a rushing river in the woods. When I was last hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park with my adult daughters and nephew, it was late spring. There were still quite a few wildflowers blooming and so many different butterflies sampling their nectar. I hadn't been on this particular trail before but it was very beautiful. Not rugged or intense climbing, just meandering hills through open grasslands and aspen trees mixed with firs. I had a strange sense of DejaVu when we reached a huge open area of grasslands surrounded by mountains. I has a vague recollection of a dream of this place, or one that looked like it. We could hear meadowlarks singing in the distance but they were too far away to see. As we followed one path, we began climbing in elevation. As we trekked on there were many more trees and we could hear the faint sound of water in the distance. At last we could see the river down a ravine to our left. We stayed on the path along side the river and eventually found a spot that was easy to climb down to see it up close. The deafening sound water makes is amazing as it travels over land downhill from the mountains. We all stopped to breathe in the sweet damp air from the waterfall. It was ice cold and so beautifully wild. Moss on the rocks was gorgeous. We lingered and looked closely at the many different plants growing near the water. My kids and nephew tried to identify many of them. After we spent enough time there, we hiked up the path a bit more as each step became quieter and quieter until you couldn't hear the river any more. It was a special place to spend the day with my family. A year later, I came upon my photo of this spot and decided to try to capture it in a painting. I used pastel on paper. It was more complicated than I thought so I put it aside for quite a while and worked on other things before I took on the challenge again. It was still a hard piece for me, but I enjoyed the process. It brings me peace as I look at it now that it's done.

If you are interested in this piece or would like a print, please contact me at lisabrennanart@gmail.com