Sunrise over Patagonia

I have returned to a landscape for this one.  It is completely from memory, and is of the southern part of Argentina known as Patagonia.  We travelled to South America in 2007, as part of our Antarctica trip.  We loved southern Argentina and Chile, and particularly the southern Andes and the associated glaciers, streams, and lakes.  This painting recalls the Andes, the snow-tipped mountains, and the beautiful racing streams.  I have a particular memory of sunrise, and the gold of the sun reflecting off the tips of the mountains, and I have tried to capture that in this work.
Some might think that the fern seems out of place, but my research tells me that the fern is Blechnum magellanicum, a slow growing tree fern native to southern Chile and parts of Argentina.  It is extremely hardy, and grows from sea level to 2200m, and can handle temperatures down to -15C.
I painted this one with a pallet knife, hence the roughness of the mountains and stream.  I particularly like the foreground stream, showing the water cascading over the rocks.  As usual, the photo has not done the colours of the painting justice.


Sunrise over Patagonia

 After painting this one, I think I might have to turn to Antarctica for more inspiration in the near future.  The colours there were so extreme.