BY LESLIE REGO
It is early morning. I am taking advantage of the cool temperature to paint at Silver Creek Preserve.
This high-desert, spring-fed creek is legendary for fishing, but it is also a paradise for the artist. The upper branches and leaves of the willows that line the shore move gently with the breeze, the sunlight glinting off the long wispy leaves. A few highlights of siena manage to poke through the rich greens of the riverbank grasses and reeds. The sun has not yet reached the lower parts of the foliage. Mysteries lie in those dark areas.
It is a lazy morning. There are few birds and hardly any bird calls. I see a couple of blackbirds, four ducks, and one lone bird scrounging among the reeds, hiding himself so well I cannot make an identification. I catch glimpses of a long russet beak, which is the only distinguishing characteristic I can make out and not enough for me to name the specie.
Tiny ripples flow downstream. Occasionally, a fish jumps, causing concentric circles to form. These circles break up the uniformity of the color of the water. It appears as though mirrors angled in every direction are floating across the surface. The angles that catch the sun’s rays produce golden tints. Other angles reflect the blue sky. The reflections of the trees are so dark they appear inscrutable.
I am painting a very small section of the creek to keep my view intimate. In just the water I observe ochre, siena, quinacridone gold, ultramarine blue and cerulean blue, at least three different greens, raw umber and Van Dyck brown. The greens of the vegetation are vast and varied. The blues in the water are almost as intense as the blue in the sky.
It is time to pack up. The sun has climbed higher and the magical early morning light has come and gone. The landscape begins to blur and dissolve as the light flattens and the shadows retreat. I put my brushes away, but I am already planning my next painting excursion. I would like to add the autumn yellows and reds to my already bursting palette.
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit leslierego.com.