A Very Cold Winter Day

It's the middle of January and all is cold and bright, too cold to paint out-of-doors. The reference photos don't fit my mood, so it's time to clean the studio. First, sort the paint brushes for those that have turned into chisels. I tried a new method for brush cleaning. I read somewhere that after you wipe the brushes clean, you should dip them into linseed oil and they stay soft. So, I did it and they turned to stone. Oops... Time to rescue those good old friends. That took an hour.

I have been trying to work eight hours per day. Have seven to go. There are paintings lined around the the studio drying. Time now to get them filed in their racks. Racks are full pushing the need to get the new rack in place and in use. That took an hour. Six hours to go to get my eight hours in.

Lunch break and a good cup of tea and back to work in the studio. Cool jazz calms the environment along with a clean studio, it is TIME TO PAINT. The once uninspiring reference photo snapped into real excitment. I went with a photo that was used succesfully years ago. The challenge is to keep the memory fresh. With a whole bunch of hours, clean brushes and the studio reorganized it was time to let the paint fly. Two hours later, I had a new version of an old favorite, plus a clean, better organized work place. This was a great way to use a very cold winter day. Only four more hours to go.