Ruth Soller » Blog

On our honeymoon we visited Yosemite National Park during the warm sunny days of July. This refreshing scene is along the Merced River which runs through Yosemite Valley. I chose to emphasize the calm cooler hues of the crystal clear water and the pines against the stark mountain background. My challenge was to capture the reflections of the trees and rocks in the flowing river as well as the rocky river bottom visible through the shallow water, thus expressing the peacefulness which engulfed me.

We visited Yosemite National Park on our honeymoon in 1984,and I referred to our photos for inspiration for this original oil painting. This view of Yosemite Falls features the full cascade of spring snow melt along with the variety of greens and golds in the foreground grasses. An afternoon thunder storm may be rolling in with blue grey clouds over the cliffs.