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*Oxararfoss is supposed to have an umlaut over the O and an accent mark over the second A. This blogging platform is incapable of such nuances, so just pretend it's spelled correctly.

BASE OF THE OXARARFOSS

Iceland's Golden Circle (Gulfoss, Geysir, and Pingvellir National Park) is a geologist's delight. I've now painted images at all three sites and henceforth, dear reader, blogs about Iceland should be fewer and rarer. Pingvellir National Park differs from the other two sites in that it is not just a geology lesson for non-geologists; it has history and culture too. Woo hoo!

HISTORY AND CULTURE

Wikipedia tells us "(t)he name Þingvellir is derived from the Old Norse Þingvǫllr, from þing (“thing, assembly”) and vǫllr (“field”), meaning assembly fields...The site takes its name from Alþing (Althing), the national parliament of Iceland, which was founded at Þingvellir in 930 and held its sessions there until 1798. A thing was a form of governing assembly found in Germanic societies, and a tradition that endures to this day in one form or another across Northern Europe."

COMEDIC ASIDE

In my opinion our current governance in the United States is still a "thing".  These days, its a hell of a thing. (Rimshot)...Hello, is this thing on?

BACK TO HISTORY AND CULTURE

Yes, this is a site of Iceland's first government, and, to my knowledge, Europe's first parliament. It became, for centuries, the social center of Iceland, a combination of Congress, the Olympics, and Coachella. For two weeks at a time thousands would gather there, making it party central of the mid-Atlantic ridge. Merchants and Ale-makers did very well indeed. In 1930, 1000 years after its founding, Pingvellir became a national park.

AND GEOLOGY

Some believe that this little waterfall, named Oxararfoss, might not be natural. Rather, folks diverted the stream just enough to send it over a rock wall to create a drinking water pond for all those Norse hippies gathering at the Althing. If so, we can add civil engineering to the list of geology, history, and culture. The actual waterfall is to the left of this image; the outfall I am depicting is the overflow from the little pool at its base. The mid-Atlantic ridge is a mountain range running down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and Iceland is one of its peaks. Every year the Atlantic grows an inch or two wider and Iceland (and in fact, this very location in Iceland) is smack in the middle of the rift. It's not everyday that one can gaze with wonder upon a waterfall in a rift valley on top of a mountain in the middle of an ocean, so, as waterfalls go, this one makes up in genetics what it lacks in size and fury.

FINAL NOTE

I have not the first clue as to how one pronounces Oxararfoss. You're on your own there. 

In the previous blog post I shared some paintings of Iceland's Gulfoss waterfall and offered a brief discussion about starting over when a painting doesn't turn out the way you'd like.

You see here yet another Gulfoss painting, but I'm not going to talk about it. Other than to say that it's finally approaching what I wanted it to be and I owe that to CHRISTOPHORA ROBEERS.

Christophora was my first instructor, and she recently came to one of our Wednesday Night Painting Group sessions to demonstrate early American painting techniques. The group loved her, and we absorbed her joyously imparted wisdom like kindergarteners meeting Mary Poppins. She'd taught me so much of this before, and I'd forgotten almost as much, so it was just the kick in the pants I needed. Think more and paint less and you'll get more of what's in your head onto the paper or canvas.

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Notice the seashells serving as paint wells

Thanks boss