Little Turquoise

Friends –

There were so many remarkable landscapes that we witnessed for our very first trip floating down the Colorado River that I would be painting from now to forever if I were to share them all with you. However, there are some that just can't be set aside.

The Little Colorado is of one of those. The tricky part is that what I was anticipating was nothing like what we actually saw….Our river guides told us as we floated along that we would soon come across the confluence with the 'Little Colorado', and they had stories about that, of course. But if one has the Spanish language at all in the brain, "Colorado" means "red", and red is what I was looking for. Yet this tributary was none of that – not even a "Little". Instead, this river is loaded with dissolved limestone and travertine, which makes it leave creamy deposits on the sand and turns the deeper water very turquoise in color.

We were most instantly struck by these remarkable characteristics, and I longed to go deeper upstream.

Next time.

"Little Turquoise" is an 11x14" oil on board and is available for a donation to a worthwhile non-profit. Thanks again to Deborah Askew who also floated down that same spot and lent me her photographs so I could make sure I got the turquoise right.

margie lopez read