Horseshoe Falls – no, not that one!

Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls is the largest of the three waterfalls that form Niagara Falls on the border between the USA and Canada:

But this story is nothing about that one. I recently won a competition on Fine Art America with a piece of Digital Art that was taken at Horseshoe Falls and had some cows gently drinking in the calm waters of the river. As you can imagine, that would be pretty tricky here in the Niagara River!

The Real Horseshoe Falls

Horseshoe Falls in Wales was constructed by the famous engineer Thomas Telford as part of the construction of the canal and the massive viaducts he built nearby to cross the valley of the River Dee in North Wales. Canals need to be supplied with water to keep the levels up and so he constructed this small weir and a feeder waterway to bring water to the main canal in 1808. When we visited, it was a lovely warm, calm afternoon with the sun slowly setting in the west to bring delightful light into the scene. So here are the Horseshoe Falls of this story:

The falls are quite near to Llangollen and if you ever visit that area of North Wales, well worth a detour! Also, just along the valley is a delightful little church with overgrown graveyard that was full of dandelions on our visit:

But back to the story. The river here, the River Dee, meanders very slowly across the meadows before reaching the weir and as I got to the riverbank, I noticed a small herd of cows making their way to take an evening drink before going back to the farm for milking. Just why they do this as a group is a mystery to me! But I thought the composition with the calm water reflecting the trees and the cows lined up to step into the water was just perfect:

Zooming in a bit more, I could focus in on the pattern the cows were making and getting a more intimate view of the herd.

When I looked at this version, I immediately thought of the work of John Constable, the famed English Landscape painter. But this image looked a little too sharp and clinical – almost like a photograph from a high-end digital camera, not from a paintbrush. And, so, I decided to do some Photoshop magic on it and convert it into a digital oil painting just like Constable would have liked! Perhaps!

This is the final image that I entered into the competition and was very pleased to get the first place. If you can picture this on your wall on a canvas frame, it is available here!

So now you know the true location of Horseshoe Falls!