January Grays

This painting was inspired by the "plein air" westward view across Singleton Lake yesterday (Wednesday Jan 15th). The wind and the snow made it quite impossible to complete it outside - so I finished it in front of the wood stove in the studio. Life is good...
Supportive friends have generously compared my art to a couple of very famous artists. I greatly admire these long diseased talents and thank those for their very kind comparisons. The reality though is that every artist has to find their own way and the path to their destination cannot be known until they get there. Even then they might not be quite sure just where they were going. I still don't know my destination but the ride is fun. I don't need much so I am free to follow my path wherever it will lead.
For myself, the finished art seems to be more a function of the subject matter, the weather and the painting surface. Recently I have been having fun on several small slippery surfaces. These "SSSS" paintings are a joy for me to create. They also link me to my Dad who made the supporting frames from the cedar post of the back stairs of the home on East Avenue, Brockville. Parts of the post were rotten and after making the repair, Dad cut down the rest of the 6x6 timber to make stretcher frames. Waste not - want not. Many of these have been stretched with heavy canvas while some have been finished with plywood. The heavy canvas has a lot of tooth but the panels have almost nothing to grab the oil paint.
Anyway, the "SSS" paintings benefit from the strengths of oil paint - lots of texture and colour. Yes, artists have completed paintings like this before. Just because our paths overlap doesn't mean that I am copying their work. I paint for myself and my own sense of creation - but "thank you" for the very kind and complementary comparisons.