Images of the Columbia River Estuary are ones that I have studied for years. From satellite images, I have mapped wetlands. landcover and invasive species within the 141 mile long area from the mouth of the Columbia to Bonneville Dam, the upper limit of its tidal influence.
The subject of the painted collage above is primarily one Landsat 5 image, but the collage does not hold to that one point in time. The estuary is a constantly changing place with tides and river levels rising and falling, sand bars and mud flats changing shape, and clearcuts and regrowth in the forests along the Columbia's banks. Seasonal changes are constantly occurring as well. So the collage portrays a changing, dynamic landscape. The choice of ranges of light, near infrared, red and green, gives growing vegetation a red color in this image.
This collage is the third in a a series of recent collages and paintings based on satellite images (the two others are "Rice Fields from Space" and Owens Lake, a lost lake in California). The images tell a story if you look at the details in the landscape and they have a beauty inherent to their landforms and habitats.
This collage will be one of five collages and paintings that I will be showing in the "As Time Goes By" exhibit at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University during June.
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