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Word is that we aren’t breaking any temperature records, yet!  But if you like to get out and paint in the great outdoors you’d be hard pressed to not be reminded almost daily that its’ pretty darn cold out there.  Yeah, we are back to the kind of weather were you need to scrape your windows free of frost on a regular basis.  Scrape from the inside that is.  In my car I limit the amount of talking in order to reduce the amount of condensation from your breath.  Yeah, it’s a small sacrifice but the way I see it, those vaporized words can attach themselves to my interior windows and cloud them with a semi-opaque scrim which my defroster sometimes has trouble removing while the car is in motion.  So if you’re riding with me in the old Honda, practice holding your breath and remain absolutely quiet.   Yes, it is part of being Minnesota nice.

On the other hand, it was a wonderful delight to suddenly hit 48 degrees this past Saturday after barely reaching the plus side of zero for what seemed like weeks.  I was excited enough to produce three paintings in a row celebrating with brush and canvas this monumental weather phenomenon.  At first I thought to explore some new territory, but considering that I would use precious time in that pursuit, I succumbed to simple logic and returned to some favorite local roads that always seem to provide me with paintable material.  Today it was Sawmill Rd in Jordan, MN that offered ample looks on a bright snow melting day.

You can see that I didn’t waste time travelling far from the road.  All three were painted using my car hood or trunk as a taboret.  This allowed me to stay drier and kept the snowmelt from causing too many problems.  It felt so absolutely wonderful to stand in the elements and not feel the piercing cold cut into every semi exposed part of my body.  I trust you feel some of the joy I felt when I painted the works.  And as always, check the Events tab for some new offerings I am teaching from the studio, inside, where it’s always without a wind-chill.