Winter Sings a Song to Springtime, 2016, Oil & Graphite on 3′ x 2′ Wood Panel (click image to enlarge)

Spring is in the air and the light is changing. Migratory birds are everywhere, filling the morning with a cacophony of sweet sound. Sheets of ice melt away beneath the warmth of late winter sun, mirroring a change of season. The time has come for rebirth and renewal

Winter sings a song to springtime. A sweet, sad song; filled with melancholy notes of lonliness and longing. A song of anticipation and surrender. A beautiful goodbye.

 A peek at my process on this time-consuming piece

Painting large-scale, layered oil paintings takes up large blocks of time and space. Finding a span of uninterrupted days can be challenging. However in late winter, with icy/snowy/muddy roads to contend with, it’s a little easier to carve out time in my schedule and hunker down in the studio. But space? Oh space. Working on the floor has many advantages, but walking around is not one of them. I thought I’d give a bit of a peek at my process in this post (images previously posted on Instagram with many related photos of melting ice along the river).

I am very pleased with this piece and expect to continue on this series over the coming weeks.

 This piece began with sheer layers of orange and grey-violet oil paint. Once dry, graphite drawing began, followed by layers of opaque white oil. Between layers I scrape back to reveal patches of the underpainting and then add more paint and drawing to the top. The process mirrors freeze-thaw, and the passage of time.

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