Winter Light

Winter Light - Amaryllis
oil on canvas - 24 x 36 inch

Winter light is what I notice at this time of year. Each day it lengthens, stretches out daylight to longer days. It's cool light reflecting the snow and sky; ah... but in the morning, it unfolds warmly through my kitchen window languishing across whatever's in it's path. I, of course put things in it's path...to watch it's effect. In January it was an amaryllis, now a pot of tulips. I love the shadows cast by them, I almost love them more than the plants ...I like to observe the colours of light that blend to create them.  In painting them I am discovering a gazillion ways to mix neutrals, how to lay them in thinly, scrape them, let them drip, thicken them with medium, spread them on with spatulas, move them around with rags and fingers(in latex gloves of course!). Such fun. slippy, creamy, runny mudpies of neutrals. Winter Light has become a theme on my canvas's this month.

And here's McDuff, finally done! He took a glaze and some over-painting to complete him, so he's been waiting on the shelf for quite a while to dry in between stages.