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There's a great story behind this one.  On a whim I drove down and joined the Plein Air Festival in RedWing, and started scoping out views to paint.  I am always drawn to water, and out-of-the-way places, so right away I noticed this channel of the Mississippi lying right under everyone's nose as they drive into town over the blue bridge.

However, truck traffic is going so fast and the lanes are so narrow there that I just took pictures, shivered at the thought of standing there 4 feet from the semis,  and set off to look for an easier spot.

Alas; there was nothing that grabbed my imagination like the way the blue sky reflects off the surface of this backwater!  In most places it feels as solid as a carpet, yet where the duckweed breaks, you can see down into deep burgundy, iron-rich water.  And the narrow channel seems to stretch up and away to a mysterious future...

Besides; I thought.  I don't like to feel shackled by fear.  "What a great way to go out!" I thought, if it came to that...using all my ability to honor the beauty of Creation!

On my way  along the narrow sidewalk I looked up and -zzing! a rock sliced across my cheek, straight from under the wheels of the semi honking at me...Yikes! Thank goodness I had sunglasses on.  I wiped the blood off.

I would not be deterred. I made certain I had my big white umbrella up, as much to alert the oncoming traffic as to protect me from the sweltering sunshine.  I moved quickly, painted decisively, scrambled out of there and made some finishing touches in the parking lot of the frame shop, down by Pottery Place...

Thank goodness for the focus & courage of an adrenaline rush!

This is about 10" by 19", framed with a contemporary copper-patina moulding and non-glare glass.  around $650 or 700, available at Vern, Carver & Beard Gallery, 612-339-3449. www.verncarverbeard.com

giclee prints available from the artist at laurafrykman@earthlink.net

This painting won the People's Choice Award at the RedWing Plein Air Festival, 2009, voted on by the other participating artists.

Landscape Painting, Painter, Pastelist

Cloud of Tulips
Afternoon Tide/Blue Pacific
Portrait of Florence at 87
White Peony Prayer
Dog Days, Minnesota River
Lake Superior from Highway 61
Too Big to Fence
Peony Carousel
Sanddunes, Duluth
One Soft Swell, at Grand Marais
Iris Flamenco
Blue Sky Creek
Summer Radiance
Blue Waterway
Sunflower!
Warm Winter Sea
Tulip Incandescence
Daybreak/Superior Morning
Tulips at Como
Indian Summer
Protean Flames
Autumn Mystery
Lotus Queen
Autumn Wetland Meditation,2/3 done
Linden Gold
Rainy Meadow
Shirley's Tulips
Arboretum View
Sunshine Elixir
Backchannel Blues
Jay Cooke Park, rock formations
Rice Creek Reverie
Sunny Creekside
Lake Harriet Morning
Old South Barn
Boathouses, Rainy RedWing Day
Golden Wetlands
Brilliant Summer
Water, Reeds, Sky Implied
Blue Bowl of Light
Lone Clematis
A Great Day for Canoeing
Crabapple Grove
White Crabapple, May 17, '09
Cloud Study
Minnehaha Creek/Melting in March
Magic Mirror
Minnehaha Falls in Winter
Pt. Vicente Oil sketch
Foggy Morning/Pt. Vicente
Iceplant at Abalone Cove
Ocean's Edge/Inspiration Point
Ocean Cove at Sunset
Rocky Point, across from Catalina
Flamingo Reflections
Late Summer Romance
Anna at 15
Dr. Charles Medlund
Portrait of a Girl
Portrait of a Boy
Farmer's Market, Minneapolis
Raspberry Island Music Pavillion
Waiting for Spring
Waiting for Spring
Crosby Farm Meadow
Brass & Apples
Red Rocky Beach on Superior
Cascade River, Frozen Falls
Butterwort Cliff