Terlingua Creek Afternoon

plein air watercolor (Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor on 140# Arches cold press paper)

Each February a small group of painters (now known as the Rattlesnake Gang) meanders down to Big Bend National Park to paint en plein air. We typically stay in pretty spartan quarters in Terlingua, just outside the park. Terlingua Creek (which eventually runs into the Rio Grande at the park's southern boundary) is near our lodging, and this particular view of the creek is immediately behind the much loved (and now closed down) La Kiva bar/restaurant. I liked the backlit condition and meandering composition of the river, and I believe that the distant structures (which help give scale to the barren landscape) are part of a nearby nursery.