Salmon Creek in the Snow

After a winter of cloudy skies and wind, we finally got a few days of warmer weather, sun and deep snow cover in early March. I was able to get out to do some painting during these rare, beautiful conditions. This is the first of 3 paintings I was able to finish outdoors. It is an 8x12 oil on canvas, and was painted at Salmon Creek Country Club, which adjoins our property. After tumbling through some "mini-gorges", the Creek passes through some flatter land where it makes some beautiful, long S-curves. It was that S-pattern that attracted me, along with the contrast of the dark blue water against the snow. The resulting composition may be a little symmetrical, but I kind of like the result.

Despite the sun, it was still on the cold side this day (mid-upper 30s). After an exhausting trek through a foot of soft snow, I realized that I probably need to invest in some snowshoes, something I've been thinking about since moving up here 7 years ago.

Despite the deep snow cover, I was not alone out there...in addition to the birds, the ground was covered by some kind of small insect. They were all over the snow, just crawling around. I remember seeing them in past years, and always find it interesting that they are out in the snow. If anyone can identify this bug, let me know: (edited to add: this appears to be a type of stonefly, which emerges from cold streams in early spring, and are often seen crawling on snow)