Oil on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.

Signed on the front.

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape.

Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.”

Andrew Wyeth

This quote by Andrew Wyeth is certainly born out if you have a look at his work. Wyeth was a very accomplished and famous painter who was able to capture the essence of the landscape and people along the Brandywine river near Valley Forge in the USA. Probably better known for his series of drawings and dry-brush watercolours of his neighbour Helga, Wyeth nevertheless was also able to capture the ‘bones’ of the country in Autumn and winter.

I once read that the only way to paint the snow was to get out there and feel it crunching beneath your boots, and that’s exactly what happened in this case. Luckily, this scene is literally right outside my studio door, so my field trip on the day was only 20 metres away, and I was able to duck back into the studio if I found I had forgotten something or needed something else.