Cross-Country Skier

Well, the SUPER cold weather of winter is finally upon us, and I'm finding myself oriented towards wintry illustrations!

Here's an ink and watercolor piece to give you a chuckle, along with a late night snapshot I took of an outdoor ice skating rink, small-town style.

Canine Love Is Always Warm

Canine Love Is Always Warm

Winter Kisses

Winter kisses are sometimes cold even when they're warm.

"The tips of your ears are cold."

"Probably."

Frozen Magnolia Morning

An early morning walk proved sparkling and magical after our first Midwestern snow fall.  It may be still be autumn, but it looks like the depth of winter right now.

Full Circle

Happy March 1st!  

It's been snowing since last night.  Snow on top of snow.  It feels warmer, though, and the snow is gentle.  I feel hope that Mother Nature is about to turn a corner.  Nonetheless, I don't think She wants us to forget that all seasons are favored, and She isn't about to short shrift the current one.

I thought I had finished this last night, but ended up putting more contrast into it this a.m.  I was listening to Led Zeppelin's, "Rain Song" while doing so--it's gentle, beautiful strings and gradual crescendoing underscored the cyclic nature of the piece (or at least it did in my mind.)

My husband said on his phone, he initially couldn't see the face in the roots.  I darkened it a little below to enhance it.  I used circles because of their symbolism:

The circle is a universal symbol with extensive meaning. It represents the notions of totality, wholeness, original perfection, the Self, the infinite, eternity, timelessness, all cyclic movement... (Hermes Trismegistus)). 

In any event, I'm very happy with this one...took a long time, but I was in a meditative state so it didn't matter.

Here are a few other pictures of what I woke up to this Sunday morning.   Pussy willows wearing a coat of snow.  March, I'm glad you're here.

Led Zeppelin's  "The Rain Song"

Three Deer

Driving home a new way tonight, I saw a wondrous sight.  Three deer crossing the road in front of me.  Such a beautiful gift from nature set against Her less generous gift of cold winds and swirling snow.

Watercolor, Acrylic, and Ink

140 lb. Arches Watercolor

Day 6 - Snow Shoveler

It's snowing and blowing and freezing- winter is really, really here.  It's going to be 4 degrees below 0 tonight. Nice.

To suffer the frozen tundra more deeply (what was I thinking?), I decided to watch "Dr. Zhivago" while I painted this weary shoveler.  Hopefully he (we) won't have to dig himself out for too long.

Betty Sue Trying to Get in Shape - Goodbye Winter!

Betty Sue could feel the pull of spring nipping at here widening waist and winter sluggishness. Time to get out her exercise DVDs and try to whittle that middle down!  She huffed and she puffed, and you had to admire her fortitude in keeping up with leg lifts, side kicks, and arm circles.  But then she came to that darn double-leg cross grapevine move and she faltered. Looking over her shoulder at the t.v. screen, trying to follow her svelte television instructor, she tripped and twisted her ankle.  Cursed aerobics hell!  She limped to her freezer, grabbed some Ben and Jerry's ice cream, hobbled to the couch and put an end to that insanity.

Speaking of winter, here's a few shots I took last Saturday morning.  I actually was walking Ebert, when I saw this ice in the alley looking like broken glass.  It was so beautiful, I had to run back alone with my camera, but even a 5 minute difference had changed its appearance in the warming sun. Still, here's a peek at nature's mosaic.

Then there was this fellow.  Just a lollipop of a big-headed icicle sticking straight up out of the snow.  He looks like a heart, and in the next, an upright cobra, and then a side-view of a screaming mouth and eyes.

Heart

 

Wide-Eyed Cobra

 

 Eyes and Mouth on the upper right-hand side.

And I love all the detritis and debris in this dirty snow bank.  I want to use that background in a painting.

Here are some wintry goodies.  I took this shot of banana bundt cake while it was still steaming, fresh out of the pan:

I used 2 cups of gluten-free Cup4Cup flour and 1 cup of almond meal to make it gluten-free.

And one final wintry dessert--buttermilk chess pie, which you can read more about at listentomepielady.blogspot.com.

Winter Sun

Two Drawings

Today is Tuesday, January 7, 2014, and we have been in a freezer locker for days on end.  Forty-one degrees below zero wind chill factor.  Thirteen degrees below zero for the daytime high.  Truly insane.  I haven't been making art, but rather making plenty of soups and a few sweet things.  A few days ago, I did feel myself compelled to draw...something.  Here's a couple with no meaning, just two different days, two different styles.

 Acrylic and Ink 

5 1/2" x 7"

"Say what?"

Acrylic and Pastel

8" x 10"

"Stocking Cap"

Day 349. Mistletoe Mayhem

And so arrived Frank's favorite time of year.  The same sentiment did not hold true for the ladies of the office!

Meanwhile, I'm glad it's soup season!  Here's some ground beef, potato, tomato, and mushroom soup with chopped avocado, red onion, asiago, and arugula to top it off.  Yum!  Hope you stayed warm on this snowy day.  Winter is definitely here.

Day 323. Practice Up That Snowball Windup Pitch

Oh, it's been so cold the last few nights.  I know it will be warming up over the rest of the week...a balmy 63 degrees by Sunday.  But last night it was only19 degrees and tonight is cold, too!  Those chilly winds got me thinking, better practice up on that snowball windup pitch.  The big winter game is coming!