New painting

"The Lesser Bridge" by Hilary J England 8" x 10" oil on canvas

Alot has gone on since my last blog--most of it is very personal, so I'll leave it there.  It has affected me very deeply though, and in that respect, it has driven me even further and more frantically to paint, which is actually a pleasant "by product," rather than shrinking into a nonproductive depression and shutting down.

Anyway, the above painting was done at the Hill to Hill bridge in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  It was a very pleasant day, and I was with my Bethlehem group of artists, so there was a nice little gathering.  I kind of wandered off the path and found this little stone footbridge, bathed in sunlight to the left, yet the murky, muddy little creek was completely in shadow from the large, elegant trees that crowded it's narrow banks.  I found the hollow of the little arch somewhat intriguing, from the vantage point of "looking over the shoulder" of a very large tree...which had a lovely array of ground foliage surrounding it, and ivy creeping up and around it...ivy, which turned out to be POISON IVY, which I had plopped myself down in the middle of!!! 

After this realization, I accepted the fact that the damage had already been done, and to switch locations was futile...so I just shrugged it off and went forward with the painting :-)  

So far, no rash...