It’s Snowing!

Those who know me, know I’m not really much for summer unless there’s an ocean spread out at my feet.  

I’m a winter person.  So the fact that we’re currently experiencing about our 3rd significant (meaning more than an inch-ish?) fall of da white stuff this season is cause for celebration!!  I may just have to bake cookies, today.  Sugar free of course. (Bleh). Maybe not. 

Anyway, one thing I like to do when showing off my artsy stuff, especially when I haven’t been posting to my bog as often as I should, is to publish something that’s moderately seasonal.  I was just glancing through my pitifully few recent additions and noticed that one of my faves has never been displayed.  So here it is!  

In it, a tiny red cabin, nestled in a grove of snow-covered fir trees, waits out yet another of Mother Nature’s crazy moods. While the winds howl and the dancing white flakes swirl, those inside the cabin are snug and warm. The fire in the fireplace, in front of which snores the dog, heats the whole house and the golden light from the old-fashioned oil lamps creates a glow that is just as warming. A good book to read, a purring cat on our laps and hot cocoa for all. It’ll be good skiing in the morning … what more could we want?

This is sort of a fantasized version of our tiny ski cabin up at Blue Knob All Seasons Resort in Claysburg, PA, plus childhood memories of oil lamps and winds whistling around the corners of my grandmother’s house in winter.  

I created this one entirely from my imagination as I was swishing pixels around for the fun of it … not photo based or even referenced. Hand-painted in Corel Painter 2019 with a Wacom tablet and art pen stylus, utilizing many beautiful brushes mostly from Karen Bonaker. Since I still consider myself primarily a photographer, most of my images have a photo at least in the base, though more and more often I may just use the lines of a landscape, for example, as a starting point.  I find that creating straight from a blank page … well … screen … isn’t easy for some reason. But I’m getting there!  

So … go grab a mug of cocoa, put your feet up, get your book, and enjoy winter the way it’s meant to be enjoyed … in front of the fireplace … or on those skinny wooden sticks, swooshing down a mountain side.  

As always, a quick click into the picture will swoosh you over to my website where you will be able to see the image much better, plus cool products that it’s available on including face masks, coffee mugs and puzzles. 

Btw … as I finished typing and struggled to remember how to get this post off into the world, it stopped snowing.  

Sigh.