Winter Painting

As much as I love painting outdoors in the spring, summer, and fall, I still have issues with painting outdoors in the winter.  Last January, when 2 women painters from ME (Renee Lammers & Suzanne Brewer) were visiting Jeffersonville, VT, I painted with them.  We painted in 2 different spots in Waterville.  Here are a couple of pictures of one of my paintings and my set-up.  I am painting along the Lamoille River, just off of Hogback Road.

Although it was cold, I could still manage to paint.  This was late afternoon, and as the sun dipped lower,  the watercolor and gouache which was  in thin washes in the enamel tray palette started to freeze, and the water in the brush started to freeze, as well.  That is when I called it a day.  But, I was still pleased with the results and patted myself on the back for braving the cold and painting.

So, I decided to stop whining and go outside and do a few snowscapes this winter.  I loaded my watercolor and gouache supplies in a backpack, parked my car, and hiked a little ways and set up.  The snow by the river was much deeper than I thought it would be, and by the time I got to where I wanted to paint and stamped down an area to work in, I was already cold.  

I quickly sketched out where I wanted things to go and started to paint.  To my amazement, the paint rolled into little ice balls.  These ice balls refused to stick to the paper.  What?  I kept trying for a while, but it got worse.  The watercolor supplies went back in my backpack, and I try drawing, instead.  By the time I got to this point, my fingers were completely frozen...especially my thumbs.  Apparently, thumbs are pretty important, and I couldn't draw either.  After these 2 lame starts, I packed everything back up and retreated to the car to thaw out.  

With the heat on in the car, I thawed out and so did my brush, which had a solid ice core.  The view wasn't what I originally intended, but that's OK.  Painting out the window of my car was better than not painting at all.  So, here are a couple of pictures of what I did before heading home for a nice, hot cup of tea.

Where there's a will, there's a way.  I guess my way of winter painting is best done from my car.  Thanks for visiting.