Art Gallery

Delaware River - South Toward Bowman's Hill

I grew up in a house near the banks of the Delaware River in Washington Crossing, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. I’ve spent many hours along the shore as well as on the waters of the Delaware, and I’ve painted the river more times than I can count.

This view looking south from New Hope, Bucks County in late summer captures a particularly wide and shallow stretch of the river, the perfect site for a ferry. In fact, New Hope’s first name was Well’s Ferry after John Wells, the first ferry operator, who began service in 1722. Then a generation later it became Canby’s Ferry and eventually Coryell’s Ferry as the ferry operation changed hands. It was incorporated as the town of New Hope in 1837 and is four miles north of my childhood home. Today a notoriously narrow bridge crosses the Delaware at the site, linking New Hope to Lambertville, New Jersey to the east. This painting was completed using color sketches and photos taken from that bridge.

If you look closely you can just make out the stone tower at the top of Bowman’s Hill, which was constructed in 1930 to commemorate those who camped in the area with George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Seeing the tower from a distance was a childhood car game in my family, with the first to call out (credibly) “I see the tower!” becoming the winner.

This painting began as a color sketch painted on site—I practice I utilize often and which allows me to have the best of both worlds: the freshness and immediacy of plein air technique, and the polish and compositional precision of studio work. Later, I created a larger painting of the same scene. However, this small sketch—with only a small amount of studio work added—stands on its own as a sweet little painting of a fabulous vista.

 

Medium	Acrylic
Image Dimensions	8" x 10"
Outer Frame Dimensions	14" x 16"
Frame Style	3 1/4" Gold Leaf on wood
	Price upon request

bertgrrrl@yahoo.com

Copyright © Roberta Lee 2003 - 2018

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