View from shop, Today's (crazy cold) adventure.

0  degrees, who's counting!

I couldn't stop myself today, was it the challenge for challenge's sake,  or just insanity?

This is the view from my shop's slider doors. I wasn't going to paint today, with a high of 2 degrees.  I had to deal with frozen pipes, drafts, etc and wasn't finished until 3:00, later than I'd usually start anyway, but the light was deliciously crisp  and the colors were like nothing I had ever seen, besides I wanted the ultimate bragging rights! or to prove I've lost grip on reality, or I was climbing the walls and had to be outside painting if just for a 1/2 hr.


Note the cement sculpture of a foot (pointing up) I made that in 93' out of cast concrete, and it's a reminder of my previous life as a sculptor....

 I spend a lot of time in my shop, it's where I prepare for just about all my worldly activities, store my tools and materials, pack them etc. It has a wood stove, but I hardly ever bother to light it, the building is not insulated. But today it was where I painted from, at zero degrees I couldn't be anywhere else.

OK so it's cold, but I'm out of the wind, have all my stuff at hand, and I'm moving in and out to paint. It's  6" x 8" the smallest I've ever done!

Sorry the photo is so bad.  I  never paint this close to dusk, but I did this on a whim (or dare) and needed the flash, maybe it's more about compulsion than art (ya think)  but did I learn anything?  (other than if you out side in the cold your fingers will start to tingle after about 45 minutes) I may be nuts, but I'm not stupid and I didn't get frostbite. The paint was seriously thick, and I had to use a lot of medium to even use it. (My pallet hadn't dried since my last painting 3 days ago on New Year's Eve. Mixing colors and all the other decisions that go into a little sketch like this are pared down to the most rudimentary basic, there is no time to think, you do it, and you trust your instincts.