San Rafael Avenue Bridge

San Rafael Avenue Bridge  16"x 20"  oil on panel

Getting back to the easel after being away for a while.  I am currently working on a series for the upcoming "Artistic Eden, Contemporary Masters III" exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of History in March.  The exhibition will focus on paintings that reflect the everyday life and scenes in the greater San Gabriel Valley.  A few weeks ago, I drove through Pasadena looking for new images to paint.  The Santa Ana winds had come through a few weeks earlier and the debris from all the fallen trees was still carpeting the city.  I was driving along scenic South Arroyo Boulevard when I passed by the striking image of the San Rafael Avenue bridge.  From my vantage point, the bridge was only partially visible through the trees, but was brilliantly illuminated by the low angle of the winter sun.  I am always attracted to compositions which provide partial clues to a larger subject.  I felt this view, along with it's unique moment in time, created an engaging composition for a potentially great painting of this gracefully designed 1922 bridge over the Arroyo Seco.