Last snow

"Dead tree, last snow" by Hilary J England
oil on canvas, 8" x 10" 2014

I can only hope this is the last snow.  I can't say it enough that I am done with the friggin' cold, the wind, the gray, the death, the Winter.  Enough.  Winter, go home. You are obviously drunk.

So, I don't care if we have a blizzard tomorrow, next painting I do will be of the Spring, even if I have to invent it in my brain.

Enjoy!

Marking time

"Creek in March on a blustery day" by Hilary J England
8" x 10" oil on canvas 2014

The never-ending Winter.  I'm sorry, I'm like everyone else at this point: ready to go insane.  I can't recall ever feeling this bleak during any Winter....it's just interminable and I can't get my head on straight sometimes.

I was a slacker for the last two months, but I don't care.  I finally got myself together, and here is a painting of the local creek, and trust me, it was damn cold.  Very off putting, since I'm not in the mood for this weather anymore...I would rather be complaining about the heat LOL.  Also, photoing this painting was very difficult, as my eternal struggle with my camera still endures, haha...but you get the gist!

Aaaanyway....enjoy~

Definitely

"March thaw" by Hilary J. England
oil on canvas, landscape, 8" x 10", 2014

So, here is another painting from yesterday, during the beginning of the thaw.  It was a really quick painting, trying to catch the grayish/blue atmospheric haze, along with the bare land still dotted with snow here and there.  I think after today, that is all gone, TG.

The farmland is beautiful any time of year, including during the beginning ides of March.  Looking forward to getting out and painting some more tomorrow....

Spring returns?

"Approaching Ides" by Hilary J. England
oil on canvas, 8" x 11" 2014

I've been absent.  I know this, but I didn't really care. The depression that consumed me after New Year's was so deep, it chipped away at me until it rendered me completely beaten down.  I didn't even want to get out of my bed, let alone look at the window--the relentless march of snowstorms, Polar vortexes, cabin fever, busted plumbing and other assorted problems that needed to be addressed just drove me into the comfort of my own mind, where I lounged for days, forsaking everything.  I can do that.  I don't have little kids haha.... I just didn't care.

After getting my butt whupped by the flu in January, the physical recovery took a few weeks which seemed endless, and that was the last of my juice.  So, when the warm weather, or at least the promise of it, poked it's head up like a groundhog through the snowy dirt, initially I thought nothing of it, but each passing day perked me up a little more, knowing that I could go outside and paint again...I couldn't through this Winter...it was too extreme, and barring one day here or there, I couldn't do anything constant, and that added to my depression, deeply.  I hate feeling trapped--and that's what I felt like: a rat in a trap.

So, at last the weather is arriving, and I feel in fine spirits along with the return of Spring.  I did several paintings today, as I am super charged (and bipolar LOL) with the promise of warm, fine weather, and languid nights.  This one above is the first:  "Approaching Ides."  It was hazy this morning, really high key and saturated despite the burn of fog in the desolate farm field.  Yet, right under the surface, you know, just by the look and smell, the flood of life is starting to percolate...~Enjoy!