Winter Tide - Day 10 of #jan30in30

4"x4" oil on archival panel

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Yet again, it is mid-night and I am just posting this painting after a very packed day.  I do want to complete this challenge though. We are one-third of the way through, and I know this will go quite quickly. Now that I'm returning to this habit for the month, it does force you to think about what will be your next composition. Even when there is a full day with "life happening to the max" I find that even a small painting is helpful to keep those ideas moving to completion and to prevent one from getting 'rusty'. 

Snow Day - Thoughts on Studio Landscapes- Day 7 #jan30in30

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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Now I know you're thinking..."this is not your normal high-chroma big load of whopping color" that you usually paint. True, and like I said earlier these 30 paintings in 30 days are like "research & development" for artists. My plan was to explore some of the things I had put off exploring for one reason or another.  Those who know me, know that "I don't paint snow"...heck, I don't even like snow, and a single dose of it is plenty enough to get my "snow ya-yas" over with. Winter does have it's own beauty, and the quiet that descends when the snow muffles out all sound, is quite remarkable.

So,  I did not go out & stand still to paint in the cold...(can't tolerate the temps)...but had been wanting to do something that Dan McCaw spoke of in his (excellent) book, "A Proven Strategy for Creating Great Art"...in one of the paintings, he took a summer scene & re-painted to make a winter version...from imagination & memory. So I took one of my Barn Island paintings...sat it next to my easel set up & used that as the 'stepping off place'...

For me, it was a great exercise in trying to mix colorful grays, ie, how to keep it close in value range, yet still have color (and not be like one slab of 'battle-ship gray'!). Winter is not my favorite season...so it's a stretch for me to even WANT to paint a winter scene. My inner FL girl LOVES the high-chroma zing...I'm finally getting my butt out of the house during winter...as long as I can keep moving (like x-c skiing), but to stand still in these temps to paint, is just a slow hard soul crushing death for me! I know I'll probably try more winter scenes like this....as long as it's from a place that I'm really familiar with....where I've spent time hiking through....Once it gets above 40 degrees with no wind...I can tolerate it...(hoping I can hang on 'til Spring returns!). As for tomorrow's painting..my eyeballs need some intense light & color! 


Stay warm folks- winter is doing it's thing out there!

Winter Wonder of Woods

11"x14" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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So, here's the skinny on my painting efforts this winter....me, "the girl from FL who does not DO snow is determined to learn to like it, paint it, have fun in it, and live with it.  If all else fails, I can get away for short bits during the winter to go visit my mom in FL!  In fact, I'm making a 'paint & tour' list of every friend that I could possibly stay with down there if we really get an unbearable blizzard or I get frost-bite....or worse (i.e. like lock myself out of the house in the snow, in my jammies, while getting the newspaper). Then I cry 'uncle'! 

This past Sunday morning we wake up to this - a winter wonderland! The storm is over and the sun is out, catching wonderful light tracery on heavy trunks and fine branches.  If I didn't have 'coffee-hour duty' at church I would've climbed back into bed under the warm covers! BRR! But the roads are clear, and I want to greet & chat with my fellow parishioners....so out to the driveway I go to shovel. Hubby follows shortly with the snow-blower, which was still buried in the basement under outdoor stuff that we had hauled in before the hurricane (just a few months back?). 

I figure there must be a special technique of using snow-blowers that involves a great deal of physics (man I hated that class in high school AND college!). It involves understanding wind-direction and flying weight of heavy wet crap- which I haven't mastered yet, as I end up wearing more snow than I clear!   So I inevitably leave the snow-blower to hubby!  

It's tough being a New Englander! But I'm working on getting the hang of it!

"As Evening Falls In Winter Woods"

8"x10" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

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An outing on cross-country skis took me through winter woods last weekend. We had stayed out later than we had planned. It was only 3:00pm when we realized we needed to turn around and head back to the car so that we wouldn't be caught out after dark when the temps drop down to extreme cold.  By 4:00pm the sun dips down below the treeline and begins to fall like a hot rock into the darkness...which arrives around 4:30pm. This view was beautiful, I wish had time to linger for the sight. (location Barn Island Preserve, Stonington, CT).

I've been out enjoying the recent snowfall. Those of you who know me, or have followed my blog for awhile know that I grew up in Florida - and don't have that much 'snow experience' compared to my friends that have grown up in cold places. So....my CT friends are acclimating me to winter weather and I've been out cross-country skiing a few times - so far it's great fun! Well, I'm working on expanding my horizons. Perhaps I'll learn to like snow a lot if I can have some fun in it! Perhaps I'll even paint more winter landscapes!