North Branch, 2014 – Michaela Harlow - 20″ x 15″, pastel on paper (24″ x 19″) 

In this part of the world, there are a handful of days when you simply do not want to go outdoors. They have arrived. The cold is not simply cold —it is bone chilling. A friend of mine mentioned hearing the trees pop and crack. That sound, once you know it, defines the dead of winter.

Still, it is beautiful. And for the brave or foolhardy, sometimes the glow of dawn’s early blush —or perhaps the milky-blue of twilight— can have a magnetic pull. When I dare to set foot outside my studio, or pause just beyond my my car door, I am often rewarded with breathtaking beauty. And then there’s always the hot chocolate.

 North Branch in my studio

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