Original Art Piece

This painting is an aerial exploration of the Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, capturing the delicate interplay between the river’s ice and water as the seasons shift. The image presents a top-down view of the landscape, revealing the intricate patterns formed by the river's frozen surface and the dynamic relationship between the ice, water, and land. From this elevated perspective, the blocks of ice float and fragment, their forms constantly changing as the temperature ebbs and flows. They are both grounded and fluid, caught between the warmth of the season and the cold of winter, constantly reshaping themselves as they interact with the river below.

The natural rhythm of the river is at the heart of this piece—how it reacts to the cycles of nature, how it breathes and shifts through the seasons. The blocks of ice, with their organic shapes, are rendered with a sense of quiet beauty, reflecting the intricate textures of the frozen surface as they drift and break apart. The soft, gradual melting of the ice, or its freezing as the temperature drops, brings forth a sense of delicate transformation. It’s a visual representation of nature’s subtle changes—sometimes slow, sometimes abrupt—but always in motion.

The landscape is framed by the banks of the river, where trees reach towards the sky and form subtle silhouettes against the background. The scene is serene yet full of life, capturing the quiet tension between the cold stillness of the ice and the ever-changing flow of the water beneath. The subtle palette of whites, soft blues, and grays is designed to reflect the cold clarity of winter, while the slight warmth that emerges from the river and surrounding earth hints at the coming of spring.

Through this piece, I wanted to evoke the timeless and fragile beauty of nature’s cycles. The way the ice forms and melts, the way the river shifts and changes—it’s a meditation on the passage of time and the delicate balance that exists between the forces of nature. The painting invites the viewer to pause and reflect on the quiet majesty of these moments, and to appreciate the stunning complexity and beauty of the world seen from above.