Most artists are agreed that working in series is most productive, not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. In other words, if you are working on one theme for awhile, you will naturally produce a lot of paintings, but the paintings get progressively better as you go along. This is not an easy thing to do. You are, after all not some kind of painting machine and each painting has to be creatively different from the other one; not a “pot-boiler”. If you are painting every day, remaining on the same theme can become boring and it will show in your art.

As you can see by this painting, I’m still painting snow, although it has long since gone. To keep loose and as creative as possible with the snow theme, I chose scenes from a number of places; our yard (when I couldn’t get out of it!), on the shore of the ocean where the tide had made walking easier, on the lake near here where I could walk on the ice, and finally (once the snow had melted enough to take the car on side roads off the highway), to the Cluxewe River Estuary.

This painting was started at Cluxewe Resort on one of the sunniest days of the winter; one of those days when you know you are privileged to be alive and in this glorious spot. I did a number of small sketches on that day, each one decidedly different from the other. (The trumpeter swans helped keep me on my toes) I’m still painting from those sketches and will likely go back to them for reference in future paintings. I decided to do this one as an acrylic on canvas and enjoyed doing it immensely. Changing the medium with which you paint also keeps you challenged and entertained at the same time. I do hope it entertains you as well!