Winter’s Hush â“’ 2013 Michaela Harlow – 16″ x 16″, Pastel & Pencil on Paper

When it’s snowing, the world outside my door is deliciously quiet. A walk in falling snow is beautifully calm and peaceful. All of the buzzes and beeps and clangs and rings —the noisy demands of everyday life— disappear, and the softness envelops me and silences my chattering thoughts.

Why do I do thirty-in-thirty? I do this because it brings me back to my artist self and it brings me back to my process. It is a meditation and a practice. In truth, this is more about losing myself and finding myself again than it is about the art I create. I need winter’s hush.

â“’ 2013 Michaela Harlow – 16″ x 16″, Pastel & Pencil on Paper

This piece began yesterday afternoon, after I completed ‘Snow-Tousled Grove’. I started early in the studio today and finished up the last layer of ‘Winter’s Hush’ this morning.