Northfork Valley

by Jordan Henderson

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Price

$500

Dimensions

20.000 x 20.000 inches

Title

Northfork Valley

Artist

Jordan Henderson

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

I grew up in this valley.

The headwaters of the Touchet River are located in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Washington, and this view is looking up the valley just above the confluence of the North Fork and South Fork Touchet River. (As an aside, though the word in French is pronounced Too-SHAY, here in the valley we pronounce it TOO-shee. I know. If I were a native French speaker I would be horrified, too.)

While the valley is cultivated with orchards and pastures, as well as flecked by houses old and new, the river still lends a wild feeling. Maybe it is the knowledge that it flows down from uncultivated mountain wilderness, or maybe the cottonwood and locust trees that line the river side give a sense of nature untamed, or perhaps it is the tendency of the river to overflow its banks (much to the inconvenience of the valley’s inhabitants) – whatever the circumstances, the valley invites you to explore its landscape, with the promise that you will find something unusual, different, beautiful.

I created Northfork Valley to take the viewer on just such a journey, upriver, to the far reaches of the scene, and into the mountains that beckon from the background. I suggest that you start in the lower left foreground, among the tall grass, and just take in the sweep of landscape. From there, you can scramble down the hill into the copse of trees by the river, or, since this is an artwork and there are no limitations, launch into flight toward the clouds in the back.

Whatever you do, take your time, and enjoy the moment, the silence, the solitude, and the sheer space of both land and sky. It’s a perfect afternoon, and there’s no need to rush. You’re in a place worth staying in for awhile.

Uploaded

May 13th, 2020

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