"Landfall" 20x20 Original Painting on Canvas 2021 Print

This piece was created specifically for the Winter Artist Guild Show at The Crooked Tree Gallery and Arts Center here in Traverse City, Michigan. To say that northern winters are cold is somewhat of a gross underestimation. It is cold, but really the extended darkness and wet dampness in the air swirling about at a steady clip of 10-60 mph really is the problem. It's nearly impossible to keep warm unless inside which is precisely why it is so quiet here in the winter. Only those critters outfitted in blankets of down, wool, and thick hides can sustain such temperamental conditions. I painted this piece in my little studio one Saturday morning after yet another precipitous storm hit here. A large ship had taken cover in West Bay overnight and by the morning, the thick cloud cover had lifted and we had our first taste of the sun in weeks. All my little ones were still asleep and my husband was out for some early morning hockey with friends, so I sat down at my easel and pictured the storm making landfall on Leelenau Peninsula, where we reside. This piece came quickly and was so easy to put to canvas. Perhaps one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in recent years and was start to finish, only a couple hours. A record for me, I think, as someone who tends to overthink my work to the point of it no longer being fun.