Portrait of a River - Beer Can

Robi Smith
Acrylic on wood panel
12" x 12"

This installation is a series of 20 painted “portraits” of individual natural and human-made items found in and along the banks of the Alouette River in Maple Ridge, BC. Each painting is 12” square, painted in acrylic on wood panel, and is a portrait of one species or item. Together, they offer a glimpse of life along the river. Portraits include: a flip-flop sandal, a spawning salmon, a drinking straw and disposable cup lid, a section of a flowering wild rose bush, a salmonberry branch with flowers turning to fruit, horsetails, a beer can, skunk cabbage, a rock, a tennis ball, a piece of a solar powered garden light, a plastic pop bottle, salmon fry, a broken pair of sunglasses, tree bark with moss, a duck, aquatic grass, foxglove, a sock, and a slug.