Winter Study

oil on canvas

8x10

The week between Christmas and New Year's is my favorite time of the year.  It feels delicious and decadent to relax after all the hustle of entertaining, cooking, socializing and taking care of hundreds of little details in preparation for Christmas.  

Suddenly it's all over.  After the cleanup, there's a hush that takes over the house as everyone takes extra time to snooze or relax.  Finally there is time to putter around, do things slowly and really notice all the beauty.  The decorations will be up for at least another week.  Now there will be time to take a leisurely stroll outside.  This is when I take my camera to scout out winter scenes for new paintings.  The colors in winter are subdue and elegant.  It takes me more time to study and record the subtle nuances than at other times of the year.  But that's okay because now the days stretch further.

I plan on doing lots of small studies in the next few months.  Transparent colors will be on the agenda this year.  I've experimented with glazes in the past but now I'm going to go further in this direction and see where it takes me.  

That's the extent of my art goals for 2009.  Ahhhh.