It’s mid-March and the land is opening up for the sowing of crops later in the season. The bright new greens of spring begin to show amongst the fields and grasses left over from the year before. Depending on where you live, trees are barren, or still green. I live in a climate that never sees snow, seldom rain, but the cycle of seasons still holds it’s excitement as birds return, bulbs emerge, and the land is once more prepared for another season of crops.
I should have gone to my Pencil Portraits class . . . but it was raining and cold and it’s outdoors. I’m a wuss, enjoying snow and ice from a distance. Thus, biting cold, frost, and snow fog. Wander along the road, beneath the trees, and remain in my snug house with a cup of cocoa and blues a-playing in the background. Not a rough life.
For some reason, winter is just in my head and in my paint brush these days. Probably I like it so much because I don’t have to deal with its less lovely elements, such as shoveling snow to commute on icy roads. Rather, I would be walking through the countryside for hours as I did when I was a kid back east, enjoying the cold air and the silence and the gentle falling of flakes.
As the Midwest and other parts of the world endure and enjoy subzero weather and snow and ice, it is summer somewhere in the southern hemisphere!
Where I am, it is neither; just a crisp and lovely day, with the winter light canted lower in the sky. I really enjoy painting landscapes, imagining myself in the middle of it all. I think I need to get into town, though – my hiking boots need replacing. 😉
Red rock formations are stunning. Utah is filled with them, with Bryce and Zion National Parks presenting stunning examples of not only the rocks, but arches and canyons.
Driving through Utah is a trip into a wonderful land, brimming with natural beauty besides the red rocks – the Great Salt Lake, mountains, ranch land, forests, and so much that it is hard to even begin to describe. Add to that, it holds a special place in American history as it is where the persecuted Mormons (Church of Latter Day Saints) found sanctuary.
Back in the 80s, I drove through St. George, Utah, when I returned to California to live. Just a few years back, we visited on a family road trip – it was far bigger than I remember, but just as beautiful.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 