Nor'Easter

"Nor'Easter" , casein , 6 x 6"

     With another Nor'Easter heading our way, I felt driven to paint another snow scene and this scene of a Clydesdale pair in a Maine snow storm fit the bill. The snow falls and builds up on their manes and tails......brrrr....!  This painting, titled Nor'Easter, is now 
 on my website and it is already sold.

 

We are braced for an 'almost spring' snowstorm and they can be big ones carrying much moisture with heavy snow falls. Our snow shovel was at the ready. The thought that spring is so very near will gave us strength. We will muddled through! AND we shoveled

 And I also painted.  [between the bouts of shoveling.]

New mixed media with abstractions are in the works!

 

 

Not Really April Fool's

From our bedroom window.

Last week we were enjoying spring...the singing of the birds, the brook running free of it's mantle of ice and snow, bulbs peeking through the warming ground. And then this morning, April Fools Day 2011, we awoke to almost a foot of snow, covering our farm, hanging heavy on the trees and power lines. This is not nice ,Mother Nature!!

The Hawthorn tree and the sauna by the brook.

The view from our deck, or any window in the house for that matter, gifts us with a wonderful winter scene....but this is spring. It says so on the calendar.  I am ready for sun and warmth and yes, even black flies.......!!!!     

"The sun will come out ....tomorrow......!!!! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there WILL be sun!!!"

But today we shovel.  I am headed to the studio until spring really arrives.

It Was All About The Storm




The snow fell and blew.

  The week started with snow.Then more snow..... and then it blew around the farm recreating moguls and drifts, which made the path to the barn disappear from sight. The dogs did not want to go out of the warmth of the house. Ican't say I did either! Our cat slept thoughout the storm, getting up only to race crazed around the cottage, then curl up again and sleep. I wanted to just curl up and sleep too, but horses needed care and the dogs needed to be dragged out occasionally to take care of business. And then after the snow stopped, and skies cleared, came the shoveling out. Not much time was spent in the studio. More time was spent just trying to get 'life' back to a 'norm' for winter chores.....horses out,horses in...dogs out and about ....paths to and from it all.

View of barn after storm & my stars that hang on our deck...for my starry starry night enjoyment!

Duster and Dom enjoy their snow bath each morning.

The horses were more than happy to get out and roll in the new snow. Our neighbor came with his snowmobile and punched a path for Les to wend his way out to the manure pile. Life has taken it's winter schedule and yes, I will be getting back into the studio.....to paint . I grab my studio time as I can.

Nell......thinking.

In the meantime....All of us at Cob Cottage want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Some exciting new happenings on my front.....more about that later. Now it is time to walk the dogs along their snow maze down to the barn!!

Merry Christmas to All From Cob Cottage

Cob in snow

We awoke this morning to snow covered fields and woods. What a wonderful present for Christmas! The dogs romped their way down to the barn for morning chores and the horses were more than happy to roll and canter through the fresh fallen snow. But with the enjoy of the seasons new snow comes the reality that this needs to be shovelled and paths cleared before the next snow storm.

Our home is decorated for the holidays...a small Christmas tree befitting our 'cobby' cottage stand proud in the living room, in a spot where we can enjoy it's twinkling lights. The room smells of Christmas, with candles and tree.

Our tree with the small sleighs travelling around it!

The dogs are excited ....as if they know a morning will come soon when Santa will leave them a present to open....Nellie thought that our Santa doll was hers. She was so sad when I took it away from her to put him on the shelve.She sat and stared at him....crying a bit.....so sad that her 'chewy Santa" was out of reach!

Nellie inspecting Santa..

Addie just watches the silly JRT.



We are ready for Santa here on the farm. The studio has sat idle this week while we prepared for this holy and happy event! Christmas is a special time for us...for gathering with friends and family, but the animals are not forgotten on this holiest of celebrations. We remember that a barn was the place that the baby Jesus was born.....a humble barn. We always take a midnight trip to our barn with apples and carrots for the horses....We will this year again..And we wish you all a Merry Christmas ....Happy Hanukkah from our home to yours.
 



Much To Do About Harry

We woke up to a morning white with new fallen snow.Not a lot. Just enough to make the world outside our cottage white, bright and fluffy. The dogs love rolling in it...the horses love running in it and kicking up their heels. Even my old Tennessee Walker, Dom, [ COMING 30!] enjoyed it for a bit. But now the winds have kicked up and the temps have plummeted with a wind-chill factor that makes being outside uncomfortable. The horses need more hay!

One of my life's passions is my flower gardens. They keep growing on me. Each spring I say no more plants! and then I go by a greenhouse....and before I know it new perennials have found their way into my truck and then need to be planted. I swear this is going to be the year that I DO NOT get new plants.
Under the new blanket of snow sit my gardens.....and they all take care, transplanting, dividing and pruning. Will I never learn??!!!

This is a photo of my "Harry"..[ a Harry Lander's Bush ]...and I love him and his gnarly branches....and when he is draped with snow he is so lovely!

While I am thinking about it : I have been working on my website and have a few new casein works on it now. Tell me what you think.

And now I need to get dressed up in my layers of winter clothes and walk the dogs, and feed the horses. Just getting dressed these winter days is a chore in it's self....never mind the horses, dogs, gardens, painting, paperwork, house care, cooking....on and on...........

Winter's Spring Rains

The rain came down for hours, pounding on our cottage's metal roof, running in rivulets down the driveway back to the barn and it filled our bubbly brook to over flowing. This brook is usually a rambling brook that gently trips it way through the woods that stand on the one side of our property. There is a scraggly evergreen tree that stands in the middle of this brook ...and I love it. It has grown a bit since we moved here, and I enjoy seeing it as it stands sentinel in the midst of the mountain run-off brook. I imagine decorating it with lights and tinsel every Christmas, but I don't do it. Instead I let mother nature decorate it with new fallen snow each winter, and to skirt it with a blanket of ice. So far this winter there has not been any snow here in our part of Maine, but I am sure we won't have to wait much longer for the white to come. Until it does come, I will enjoy listening to the brook as it sings... as it winds past Cob Cottage.

I have been busy working on several works in casein, and one of these paintings is of a hunt scene. I started with one image and have added and subtracted from it in the process. The image below is how it looked at one point. Keep this in mind, as I will be posting the finished work very shortly....and it looks differently . That is my prerogative ...artist license one could say. I am just trying to sing my song...and sometimes I get out of tune! I hope it is 'on pitch' when it is done!