Frozen Marsh

Frozen Marsh

Oil on Canvas Panel

8 x 10 inches

2006

Haliburton, Ontario

Painting in the winter is an experience especially when it is cold and today it was cold. You have to dress appropriately to be able to stay relatively still for an hour or two. Even with warm clothes, the cold creeps in without movement. Probably the most difficult part besides the stiff paint is painting with gloves on. It is hard to be dexterous with a brush when you have a layer in insulation around your fingers.

I was painting with my friend renowned Canadian artist Tony Bianco. It is always a blessing to paint with an artist of such talent. It gives you a chance to get quality opinions of your work as you paint.

We had found a nice bend in a road that crossed a frozen marsh. There were still bits of open water where the main channel came through.

It was midday and I painted one direction while Tony was a little ways down painting in the opposite direction. After an hour or so I went to look at his painting and saw that he was painting a sunset over the trees. The sun was directly over our head! It looked great.

His years of painting in the field have given him a visual knowledge bank that he can pull from to improve any work. I always learn something new every time we paint together.

When the painting was done it was nice to hop in the van and turn the heat up to full.