Kelly Eddington - Winter Portal

Watercolor painting by Kelly Eddington.

Artist Statement: I am continually inspired by the oak forest that surrounds my home in northeast Missouri. A limestone cliff and a creek border the property, and I love to explore this area during all four seasons. This painting shows the bare trees of winter reflected in the shallow creek, whose rocks dot the surface and can also be seen below it. The real challenge here was staying transparent while marrying the trees with the rocks, which can be seen in each reflected tree but also between them. Achieving this was confusing and difficult but ultimately gratifying. The water shifts from blue to white as the viewer's eyes move from the detailed rocks near the bottom of the painting to the smaller ones near the top, and the lightest parts of the water remind me of a portal to some other world.