Painting in the deep freeze

After a very balmy December, we have been experiencing some single digit temperatures this week.  Too cold for plein air painting, at least for me. Fortunately, most of the snow has missed us. So I mostly trekked between my house and the studio, a commute of only about thirty feet.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, my studio is an old summer kitchen.  This is where cooking and canning was done during the worst of the summer heat, when cookstoves burned wood.  The whole point was to keep the heat out of the house.  Well, what that really means is that there is no insulation in the building and most of the windows are single pane.  It is pretty dang cold out there.  I have a wall propane heater but keep it turned pretty low when I’m not there.  Sometimes, too low.  The water for my work will freeze and it takes awhile for the building to heat up.

However, this is a perfect time of year to create some smalls, i.e., small topical paintings.  I’ve been thinking spring, or at least wishing for it.  I’ve been painting flowers and bunnies, robins and a cute little mouse.  I get on a roll and don’t know when to stop.  Well, usually after a couple of weeks, I’m ready for something more challenging.

These little paintings are popular in the local shops and in my Etsy shops.  Although they make great gifts, sometimes it’s nice to just buy something for yourself.