moss creek basin

     The temperature had dropped to 30 degrees Friday morning, October 16th. I arose, dressed warm, loaded supplies in the truck and drove out to see if I could paint in the cold. I had on insulated overalls, layers and layers of shirts, and my bright orange vest. My confidence level had risen. The Lord had strengthened me to TRY this in faith. And I did.

    On the corner of Highway 10 and County Road # 211 I could see across the length of Moss Creek. After having practiced the routine of starting fresh this large in my own yard, it was a thrill to do it at my favorite location. See next photo.

    From the back of my pickup I pulled a factory-sealed canvas measuring 30 by 40 inches. After opening and disposing the wrapping I edged the sides with blue painter's tape. Though the view was wide and horizontal I chose a vertical format.

The foliage from either side of the basin dipped down in a great U-shape at my feet and was completely in shadow when I first got there. I wanted to keep that in the painting. My focal point was the silhouette of a lone bush in the lower center of the U-shape.

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Twenty minutes. Double click on image to see enlarged.

     With lots of sunshine, the temp climbed to 46 degrees. Soon I worked on the sky and the light orange above the horizon. I pushed the west and southern banks back into the distance. I wanted a large body of water with the hint of trees. Lord willing, this piece would draw me back to the area.

   At 9:30 am, roughly half way through the painting, a combine driver stepped out of his cab and told me to park my truck off the road on the grass. That would give grain trucks more space to make their turn onto Highway 10. We checked and found a level spot. I parked the truck out of the way. Carroll County, in which Moss Creek was located, was in the middle of the fall harvest.

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Forty minutes.

    There was traffic on the rural highway, the sound of passing trains, and a number of pickups kicked up dust, coming and going on the gravel road. One pulled along side and two men walked over to view the activity. Was the back-lit shadow on the canvas a distraction for me? No, I replied. I paid no attention to it. What about the dead limbs in the water and the tall broadcast antenna on the far shore? Was I going to include them in the painting? I wanted to keep the design simple, I explained. Something to help build my confidence. Then I showed him a pond study,next.

In which I ignored the young saplings standing in the water and did not paint them-- to see what the painting would look like that way. The surface of that pond was covered green with duckweed. I imagined it blue, then painted it blue, just to see what it would look like. And both of those decisions transformed how I saw my source material. For the better.

   Another car pulled up. Out stepped Bonnie Rodenberg of Norborne, MO. She told me stories of my father, Reinhold Marxhausen, who was her art professor while attending Concordia in Seward, NE. He was able to make every student feel like they COULD do art. No matter how insecure they felt. One day she came to class wearing a bright maroon outfit. Back then, she explained, girls were required to wear skirts to class. Bonnie said when he came by her table, he exclaimed with an exuberant "Wow." He was quite a teacher, she concluded.

     As I was trying to finish the painting, something came up. I had altered my palette to a slightly different green, when I switched from Viridian Hue Mixture to Viridian Hue. It screwed up the way the paint looked, next to what I had already painted. It made me nervous. Aargh! What to do? I made it right (but I don't remember how I did that. Ha.) When I finally stopped it was 12:30 and 59 degrees. I signed my name. Whew!

Moss Creek Basin,

acrylic on canvas,

2015

It was the FIRST 30 by 40 canvas I had EVER done in ONE sitting on ONE DAY!!!! Yea!!!!!!!!! A confidence builder to do more. YES.

This showed me I could bundle up and paint outside in colder weather.

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POSTSCRIPT: I have since learned that I need to take more breaks to stand up and walk around for my leg circulation. I am working on that. Because, after the wonderful stint of that day my ankle hurt much more that evening. I had to take more pain medication as a result. So -- hurrah, but, moving forward, I need to pace myself and take more breaks.