It is a painting day for me. It is an ordinary west coast November day with frequent weather changes from sun to rain. But as I looked up from the canvas, nothing seemed to warn me about what I was going to see in the valley.
(image may be purchased HERE)
A tree in snow – natural pointillism.
I wonder what tomorrow morning will bring?
Slipping out our door into the crisp air I pause. The tree dressed in a skiff of snow is decorated with morning light.
(image may be purchased HERE)
Now isn’t that lovely?
These photographs are from Friday and Saturday. But I think they still look fresh, even as late as this Monday morning.
Sprout Question: What is crispy and fresh in your creative day?
Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. friends!
P.S. The 12 X 12 oil painting is coming along too but is “resting.” I hope to be able to share it with you on Friday.
© 2011 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
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Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
Terrill Welch online Gallery at http://terrillwelchartist.com
Creative Potager 
Terrill,
When I saw the first shot/photo of the pine trees in the snow, I thought of Monet. and now that you mention pointillism, I see that too. Beautifully captured!
“dressed in a skiff snow” I am not sure what a “skiff” is but the snow and the morning like are just what a artist looks for in capturing a photograph!
I am not sure anything thing is crisp and fresh in my creative day. Sent my list of photographs and prices to the gallery so they could create tags for the Dec/Jan exhibit. If you had not heard 12, 500 photographs went missing off my MacBook. so I had no “new” work to use…
Jeff you may not be alone because answering the question – what is a skiff of snow? was sent to the word detective. Being from a northern snowy Canadian climate I grew up with the word “skiff” to describe a light dusting of snow but did not know it could also refer to a light wind or rain. I like that the words two meanings have a totally different origins which is all explained at the link I provided.
Oh no Jeff! I hadn’t heard about your loss of recent work. Oh no! That is not the kind of “fresh start” any of us need. I am so sorry to hear this.
Lovely images; very painterly.
Thank you Maureen. I took a quick moment to drop by as it has been awhile sense I read any of your beautiful poetry. WRINKLES seemed to jump right off the page as I read it! I just love this poem. After falling and sliding down a flight of stairs on the ferry coming home yesterday I can relate completely to the complaint in the poem. I am bit stiff and soar but fine.
I agree w Maureen & Jeff, the first two shots are very painterly. Nice effect the falling snow has…
Crisp and fresh today for me is green juice.. it’s got zing! 😉
Oh yes green juice has a zing alright Monique. I try and have it almost every day during the winter because fresh greens are a little harder to get – and I don’t like kale! I stopped by your art blog to see what you might be doing and found you were a little off the wall with “art on the wall.” I enjoyed hearing how you spent your day and seeing the creative result.
Ah, yes, the first snow. This one unheralded–as you said, Terrill.
Crisp, fresh and repetitive in my creative life–the colour red. I’m currently knitting a red cowl for the December 11th craft show while planning on finishing a red cardigan for me. Red is the counter balance for a blah day in BC. : )
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos–I love how the evergreen glows in the last photo.
Thank you Leanne! It might be hard to believe but that last photo is about 20 – 25 feet of tree and a good 80 feet off the ground. It looked fantastic over top of the house! Red is a great winter bright spot and I can hardly wait to see your sweater. So there is a Dec 11 craft show… I must get by and have a look. I am on the hunt for some good wooden toys for the two smallest grandsons.
Love the tree with a skiff of snow…..we had early wet snow in October and I got some nice shots of it as I walked the dog. Now working to create a fresh cranberry chutney for our family’s celebratory feast on Thursday. Thanks for sharing your beautiful views.
Winsomebella I believe I almost drooled when I read “fresh cranberry chutney” YUM! Enjoy your thanksgiving feast with your family. May you get many more winter shots as the winter dances its way into full view.
Terrill –
I just enjoyed, and re-enjoyed, this wonderful post as I sipped a cuppa Tazo “Zen” tea — both a delicious treat for a Monday afternoon. Thank you!
Sprout Question: What is crispy and fresh in your creative day?
The circa 1920 ribbon oak floor at HolEssence. I taught a class there yesterday afternoon and washed it today so it would be “crispy and fresh” for the Yoga students this evening.
Ah Laurie those floors sound exquisite. I went researching to see exactly what were “ribbon oak floors” and found the wonderful 1926 home for sale someplace in New York. Plus this other site that talked about how the ribbons in the flooring is from quarter sawn oak that is then made into flooring. Fascinating!
Terrill – I followed the link you provided, that’s really pretty! Here’s a link to a photo of our floor (in the Yoga area) at HolEssence: http://holessence.com/sacredspace.html
Oh Laurie this is beautiful!!! I want to sit right down on that floor and never leave!
Terrill – I’m glad you like it 🙂 It’s a great place to do Yoga and Tai Chi (and teach classes). Not only the floor, but the energy in the space is simply phenomenal.
Hello Jeff, Maureen, Monique, Leanne, winsomebella and Laurie,
I got in late last afternoon and was expecting to be able to reply to your comments this morning as I was playing catch up. However, due to a storm and high winds the power went out during the night and is just now back on. But I must run errands and take a long walk along the sea – it is a must 🙂
I thank you all for dropping in and shall reply to each of you later today.
All the best,
Terrill
Went to Moma in downtown San Francisco yesterday I was not impressed with the featured artist – big black squares of painted fabric – What is this? Then again I loved the gallery regular exhibits and that took up 3 hours of my day..with sunshine.
Wove by Union Square to see the tree….that was enough people…got myself on all the right trains – Whew! and then went to San Francisco State University Bell Choir rehearsal….magnificent.
I am getting fresh and crispy about my give – away thank you gift for Nov 24,25,26 on Patriciaswisdom…a thing of beauty for some lucky commenter… You gotta love it!
Also I reviewed the wonderful novel I was telling you about for this past Monday’s post on PW…
Looking forward to seeing Terrill’s work in the art galleries soon 🙂
Heavy wind and rain storm going on at home….bet Zip is barking at all the wind!
So glad you are having an awesome time Patricia. Don’t worry about Zip just enjoy! He will survive the wind with the rest of us 🙂 Must say it mostly rained last night. So heavy in fact that the pond is muddied this morning. Please do leave us a link when your give away post is up and then we can all come by for a visit.
Woohoo first snow! I always get so excited when I see that first dusting – it opens up the world of fun in the wintertime. I love the painterly effect you got in your first two photos, I am definitely a fan of the pointillism you have going. Your third shot is beautiful with how crisp you got the tree and the skiff of snow, with the nice light in the background. Way to go! It’s been a mishmush of rain here the past few days, but keeping my fingers crossed for some snowy activity soon!
What’s crisp here today? The weather is surely crisp, it has a nice chilly bite to it. I’ll also go with some crisp lines on the scratchboard I plan on picking up again to work on. I’ve been so wrapped up in other projects I’ve neglected my little board, but it’s time to pick it back up again!
We are back to rain as well Andrea – and high wind yesterday. But the power and the internet stayed up so I am a happy woman! Made homemade baked beans for dinner and a crazy decadent square with a shortbread bottom, condensed milk, pecans and chocolate. Yum. Thanks for your review of each image. Lovely to get this kind of feedback.
We were treated to our own first snow of course on Halloween (Octover 31) when an ultra-rare storm bore down on the northeast dropping way more than a dusting (heck eight inches at least) and caused power outages all over the place. As always your visual transcriptions of the seasons are extraordinary.
Thanks very much for the Thanksgiving greetings. We had a lovely day weatherwise, and joined in a most memorable gathering.
Good to hear Sam. We went to the 30 anniversary play of our local Mayne Island Theater group. They put on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and I thought about how much you would have enjoyed sitting with us in that century old Agriculture Hall as the audience laughed as much from seeing their neighbours in various roles as they at the characters. It was most fun!