Of the Valley

Of The Valley-
This painting riffs off the works of John Steinbeck, namely Of Mice and Men, although a lot of his stories are set in the Salinas Valley, California, and describe similar pastoral scenes.
The closing chapter in Of Mice and Men opens on a blue heron and a water snake in the Salinas River under the slopes of the Gabilan mountains. It is a picturesque quiet calm-before-the-storm moment.