Let's hear it for the color!

I have hundreds, if not thousands,  of photos of scenes around Cloudcroft, Texas, parts of Mexico, and Colorado.  Have you ever had the experience of looking through a bunch of photos and none of them really grab you?

That was what happened today.  Of course my reaction on another day will undeniably be different.  I finally picked a photo and figured out the crop for a more interesting scene but the inspiration was somewhat lacking.  Except for the color.  So that's what I did.  I went for the color.   My concentration was on the color and I did change quite a few of the elements - the path, the rocks, some trees.

When the color sings, it seems, most anything is possible.  Here is what I painted today.  I've already identified a few things I want to improve.  But, let's hear it for the color!