‘Let Us Rejoice,’ an original painting on stretched canvas, copyright wildlife artist Susan A. Walton, S. A. Walton Studio

Inspired by “This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it,” from Psalm 118:24

A pair of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds hover around a Red Buckeye. There is a blast-fractured rock face behind them, lit up with many bright hues of dappled sunlight to soften the story the stone has to tell.

This particular rock face is part of a mill trace that belongs to a still-standing and still functional old flour mill near Salem, Missouri called Dillard Mill, now a state park.

The park was managed and tended for a time by two of my dearest creative friends, Jerry and Sue Wilson- artists and educators. They let me tour the place, gave me some of its history, and pointed out some of the wildlife and plants along the beautiful, crystal clear river. On one part of the tour they brought up how the historic mill trace was blasted out of the rock using dynamite, to make a channel to guide the flow of water which powers the mill.

Even though this rock had suffered the blast and been fractured, life had long ago returned and was definitely in evidence, mostly in various types of fern and lichen clinging to the face of the stone with tenacity. Spatterdock grew in the shallow pool below the falls, and a belted kingfisher perched momentarily on an old stump at its edge. Up above the falls the river was filled with aquatic vegetation that gracefully twisted and turned in the current, and softshell turtles sunned themselves at the surface with the aid of the massed plants. Near where the main falls poured over in manmade regularity, a small rivulet wildly tumbled down fractured rock in haste, and I easily visualized a family of otters would like the chaotic slide, but that is a subject for another painting.

Back to the mill trace, and the hummingbirds. Around the ruby throat pair are a variety of plants, and plant parts, which I use symbolically to represent some of the ideas that went into the painting, which is now in a private collection : sweet bedstraw for love, oak leaves for strength, ferns for everlasting life. Nurturing arrowroot, the leaf from the spicy wood violet, a persistent eastern red cedar log, and more, combine to form a private nook in this historic place for the little birds’ fleeting rendezvous in life.

#DillardMill #HistoricPlaces #RubyThroatedHummingbirds #Hummingbirds #OldMill #Mill #SalemMissouri #MissouriStateParks