Alice Henderson Pastels the River

If I ride my bike to the end of Maple St. I am at the levee (12-14 blocks). Then I ride up about 20 feet to the top of the levee and it's a great view of the push boats, tow boats, barges and cargo ships moving along the river. I like to ride all the way to the Huey Long Bridge. The levee is paved all the way to Kenner now. If I ride the other way I end up at the fly (short for butterfly) which is the park where the zoo ferryboat docks. Sometimes I take photos and do pastels from the photos. Other times I just take my sketchbook and pastels and work directly from whatever I see. Today the river was at flood stage, which it often is in late March, because the snow is melting up north. The river is much colder, even on a warm day like today. The pastel with the trees in the water was done a few years ago but the scene was almost exactly the same today except there was a whole lot of driftwood at the edge of the water.

Alice Henderson, March 2003