Riverkern Reflections - A Plein Air Landscape - Kern River, CA by Marian Fortunati

Riverkern Reflections © Marian Fortunati 12"x12" Oil on linen panel
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Riverkern is a picnic area near several established camping areas north of Kernville, California along the beautiful Kern River.   The river seems to have many faces.  In some areas it's wild and quite dangerous.  In other areas the smooth surface seems to invite a languid nap in the sunshine atop a raft.   Riverkern was a calming delightful area and I urge you to stop by ... to just sit, to fish, to raft or ... to paint!!"

On the morning of the second day of our girls' painting trip (Diane Gold, Sharon Weaver, Laura Wambsgans and me), we were out the door and at our car at the agreed upon time of 8:00 a.m.   We had planned to head north toward the area of the giant sequoia but found instead a sad, sad area of totally burnt out forest.   Two years in a row of forest fires had just wiped out what had once been a beautiful pine forest.   We decided not to venture on toward Sequoia National Park, but instead turned around to look for a likely painting spot.

	Different views of Riverkern

We had passed Riverkern on the way north, and almost stopped then, but decided that we WOULD stop on the way back.   Once again we spread out to find our "spots".    While we all painted in separate areas from separate viewpoints and we all have very different styles, each of us was totally enjoying ourselves.

After we had finished, we drove back to the Sierra Gateway Cottages where we were staying to eat lunch and talk about our paintings.   What a great morning!   Companionship, critiques, and a cozy pied-à-terre!

 

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