There Came An Early Snow

There Came An Early Snow ~2019

"There Came an Early Snow" is depicting a late October snow on the back road in upstate NY that crossed over the the hill from the little community where we lived to the town of Hamilton. The fall colors there are beautiful, but we would often wake up to a blanket of fresh snow while the fiery leaves were still on the trees. We also had a church-affiliated summer camp nestled at the top of this hill that I spent many happy summers attending and eventually became a camp counselor. On winter days such as the one depicted in the painting, we would have a camp snow day. Everyone would sled down the long hill and people on snowmobiles at the bottom would drive us back up. When we were ice cold and chattering, we would finally warm up in front of the big stone fireplace in the camp’s mess hall with a mug of hot chocolate.

I started this one several years ago and the large canvas was a bit daunting. I barely had half of part of the sky and the very back horizon started and just hit a block. It sat unfinished for about five years, but I was determined to complete all unfinished pieces! It is lighter and brighter than depicted in this photo so it is better to see it in person.

There are are about seven layers of depth to this painting. I like to use very small brushes so there are thousands of tiny, meticulous, and detailed brush strokes. It took me around two years of putting my heart and soul in to finish it and is my best piece to date. This painting is currently on display through February 20 at the Arts Council of Brazos Valley. The original and high quality gicleé prints are available for purchase.