Skinny Dipping

6 X 12 inches Oil on linen on panel
 
I love surprises. This is a little painting of a scene from Reed Creek in the Botanical Gardens at Asheville. It was painted on three separate visits to the garden, with some light finishing touches added in the Imaginarium. On the last morning, I sat on a log draped across the creek and looked back up the creek. The mist in the trees called to me. At any moment, I expected a spirit from another world to step out of the fog and breeze past me. Quiet. Eerie. Lonely. I still felt a presence, like I wasn't alone. I set up my easel legs in the water, balanced my pallet on the log and began to really see the scene unfolding before me. That's when I noticed the footprints beside the water. Someone's bare feet had made wet prints on the rocks along the water's edge. I was not alone. Who's bare feet? Would he or she step out of the fog soon? Would they be startled to find me here? Are they skinny dipping? This is Asheville. I decided it was a she, and she was definitely skinny dipping. Despite the lack of actual evidence, I painted in the bikini anyways. This way, if she does emerge out of the mist in this painting, she has something to wear. Enjoy.