river and sky

a walk along the river today

a dark day

sun low in the sky

glimmers of light skim the water's surface, as fleeting as the patterns of the current

swirling and whirling, the water silently flows swiftly by

sky and water,  light and shadow

the ageing pilings of the shipyard docks line the riverbank

 sentinels of history,  of a time, of a place

like the images of people waiting at the docks for the paddle wheelers to arrive 

huddled in groups, they wait... or watch?

I am drawn to them, their weather-worn exterior, jagged tops and leaning stature - how long have they been there? 

at least 100 years or more

and below, a meandering view that is new to me, opened up by the growth of the city and an extension of the walking path along the river

a delightful back channel meandering along the main one, the river dotted with small islands for a while

no sketchbook but thankfully my camera

catching up with old friends this week left little time for creative pursuits but I've been experimenting with ways of depicting the mountains 

folded white Japanese paper for a background, mountains cut from an old photograph, painted cloth, painted paper and coloured pastel paper

I like the image of the trees cut into a mountain shape and want to expand on that idea

 clean lines, especially in the folded paper...  I'm liking the graphic nature of them and imaging a larger version with even more folds to use as a base for other work

figuring out how to do that is a whole different thing though and will likely involve several trials using plain newsprint and a few choice words