Super-Size That?

On a recent trip to Dakota Art, I spied some brushes with inordinately long handles.  I wondered, "who paints with those?".   Uh, people doing very large paintings paint with long-handled brushes, that's who. 

With the Allied Arts holiday show set-up complete, my energy has turned to finishing the first in a series of commissioned pieces representing the four seasons.  I'm quite sure this is the biggest painting I've ever done...two panels totalling 48" wide x 24" tall, like a giant jigsaw puzzle until I would step back a couple of feet.  These pine cones were on a huge pine tree in my yard planted by my parents.  Beautiful in the snow.

Now that I'm warmed up, the next one will be even bigger!

White Stuff

It's coming...again. Earlier and earlier every year it seems. Maybe we will see an ice age again. Did I mention I'm not a big fan of winter? I'm never sure if I've stashed away the right stuff. Dog food---check, cat food and litter----check. Candles, batteries, extra water, sunscreen...no, not sunscreen. Well, I'm off to try to get to my cubicle dwelling. It hasn't even started to snow, but I'm way ahead of the curve in worry.

This image is from a larger watercolor called "Sheep in the Woods".

First snowfall

They've been promising snow for days now and finally the first of it has arrived. Not a lot, just enough to make me glad I don't have to drive anywhere. There is one thing that always intrigues me about snow and that is the variety of footprints that appear from the creatures that inhabit the area, clues that there is more drama in my yard than I am aware of. Some rather large paw prints appeared today that I can only hope belong to the large dog that lives up the road.