There’s a lot to catch up on, as winter and social events seem to have dominated a lot of time in the past month. So I will start where we left off which was basically shortly after Valentines Day and as it happened we had some snow arrive. With a good foot of snow already on the ground we had a record 37.9 inches drop on top it. We had a lot of snow. Fortunately we did not loose power and my Grandson Ben, came to stay and help shovel out. The first flakes started to fall around 8:00 pm on February 22nd and continued into the evening of the 23rd.
First flakes around 8 PM
It snowed very hard - a full on blizzard. The wind would wake me from time to time during the night and I would get up and check on things, everything was working and the snow was still on the outside. I snapped a few pictures and the covering became deeper.
About 3 AM that first night, not too bad, I thought…
Sometime in the wee hours it really began to come down, and the wind howled. I’m happy that I took the flag down, it would have been torn to shreds and I wasn’t able to approach the flagpole for almost two weeks after the storm was over.
Just before sunrise
Okay, I know, we all have snow stories but this actually turned out to be an epic snow. I kept peeking out expecting it to slow down but it did the opposite, and intensified.
Our neighbor sent this picture of our house during the height of the storm
Back yard - can’t even take the trash out.
Carol and I felt really bad that we could feed the birds as we had removed the feeder from it’s pole so it wouldn’t become a projectile. The first task at hand was to shovel a path out the back …
So long as I keep the shovel in front of me I can always find my way home.
Why would I need a path out the back door you may ask. . . well I didn’t need it at all but my little buddy was encouraging me to help her out.
Yes this is just fine, Thanks Dad
We kept this path clear for all of the obvious reasons. It wasn’t too long but completely usable, and it did get longer - every time we went out to shovel we carved out a few more feet.
We started shoveling even as it was still piling up
It seems that most people have snow blowers or some kind of high-tech snow removal equipment. Itry to keep it simple and have few old school plastic shovels, a couple may have come from Benny’s - the best store ever which of course is no more -it has closed it doors, and is sorely missed. However, after a couple of days of shoveling. the intrepid shovelers conquered their flaky adversary.
It was a better day on Tuesday after the sun came out
With a lot of lifting snow and pitching it hight over the already high piles, the driveway was cleared and we could resume life.
Now we can come and go - if only they would clear the street
OK enough snow talk. I have been making progress in my studio as well working on several different homeowner things. I have started to experiment with a new registration process for printmaking. This is a new to me process that has been around for years, I am just incorporating it into my workflow. Actually, not even new to me as I had used this sort of registration very early in my professional life in the printing world. Registration pins have been around for a very long time but I am trying them out for linoleum block printing.
We also celebrated our 56th Wedding Anniversary - each year becomes a new landmark these days and always seems to astonish some people. This year we stayed closer to home than some other years but had a wonderful short road trip. We headed west across the Mass Pike toward Albany, turned left and followed the Hudson River south and landed in Saugerties, New York. Saugerties is a charmed quaint little river town on the west bank of the Hudson.
Downtown Saugerties, NY
We stayed at a great little hotel high on a hill just enough out of town to feel somewhat remote. We spent the day exploring the shops of the town and the architecture and meeting lots of town folks. Everyone was very friendly. The ladies at a quilt shop had lots of stories, the people in the bookstore all wanted to pet Harper/ While Carol was shopping in a bakery Harper and I seemed to meet everyone walking up and down the sidewalk. Harper is good with that sort of thing. We explored, walked and tasted the town. I even got in some sketching.
The following morning we had breakfast at a great diner in town and continued out travels down the western side of the Hudson. Along the way we found lots of interesting stops - from places to hike and chocolate shops to grand vistas of the Hudson. We even got in a short hike at Bear Mountain before continuing on to our destination - a visit with friends in Rockland County.
The reunion with our friends Edrex and Joy was just a wonderful time, casual and filled with laughter. We even made it into the city and had a great hike in Terrytown. Harper was in heaven playing with their dog Briscoe, they really hit it off.
Harper and Briscoe - buddies with treats!
We even managed to get some work done on projects, installed a sculpture in NYC and got the Cybertruck stuck in the back yard.
Ooops….
Back home again and in the studio I did more printmaking experimentation and some painting. Last Monday I realized that a deadline for an upcoming show was not a week away but at midnight! The theme was Journeys and Destinations - well there is a scene which has been running around in my head for a while from our trip to Taos. I had to get busy - entry closes in 12 hours. I printed out a reference photo and got to work
Taos Pueblo - all sketched out, now to make it a painting!
It was just past noon when this all came to mind so I was a bit rushed, up against the clock. Could I actually do a painting that I felt was worthy to enter. Oh, and it had to be framed and delivered the next afternoon. I had a watercolor hanging that I could steal the frame and mat from so I took a measurement of the image size, mounted some paper and got to work. Then my grandson wanter to come over and finish watching a series we had started and Carol had planned an afternoon walk…could I have any more interruptions…grrr. But I got it done, after finishing the series, after the walk…by 8:00 that evening I scanned the image, uploaded it to the Guild and payed my entry fee.
Taos Afternoon - 19X12 inches
I delivered it on Tuesday afternoon, all framed, tagged and sealed up properly and had to pick up a couple of pieces from the last show. It is always fun to stop by the Portsmouth Arts Guild as I have made so many friends there, good people to hang out with indeed. Saturday afternoon was the opening. It was a very good show and I was happy to hang my piece along side of the many wonderful paintings hanging there. I was then stunned by being presented with a ribbon and a check. I was awarded a Third Place! I had forgotten that the show was a juried show, it was a complete surprise, I am honored and humbled.
That about does it for this installment - I know it was a bit light on actual studio talk however I will be posting more about what in going on int he studio next time as I have a lot of irons in the fire..