Winters in the northern hemisphere....to some, unbearably long & boring. To me, an excellent opportunity to dig into favourite things during the long hours of darkness: learning new tunes & polishing up old ones...attempting to make at least a tiny dent in household & studio tasks, watching a little telly, laying out new paintings....the list seems endless. But opportunities turn into burdens when unbroken by a bit of fun, so I'm thankful for musician friends who drag me out of the studio occasionally for sessions. Plain old enthusiasm for life & living always returns after participating in a good lively evening of music & craic.
Back in the studio, the first landscape for 2010 is a sunset over the Beauly Firth & surrounds. Atmospheric conditions make Highland sunsets real stunners. Attempting to imitate the beauty and depth of colour and distance was a humbling experience, but true to form I HAD to give this wintry scene a shot! You are looking across a frozen tilled grain field of Redcastle Estate on the southern shore of the Black Isle. I suppose living in regions thick with conifer forests most of my life helps me appreciate the hardwood trees of the UK....their interesting sillhouettes, most stark in winter, and I love the long rows of them, planted who-knows-how-long-ago along thoroughfares and property lines, now grown to huge, stately landmarks, many with distinct histories of their own.
Oil on canvas, 24" x 36" $600 framed
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