Time to Get Out in the Cold

There have been several storms blow through recently leaving lots of fresh snow - just what I have been waiting for. We have about 4 inches on the ground in Alamosa but much more on the western side of the valley. My painting friend, in all things "plein air", Sue McCullough, has been busy working/slaving on her studio all season (check out that progress on her blog), but we agreed to go out once there was snow . Well, a snow fall and some sad business took us up to South Fork where we picked up paintings and commiserated with Jan Bock who ran the Mountain Artisans Gallery there. A sweet little gallery that represented over 30 artists had to close suddenly when the landlord decided to close the real estate office that shared the building. She had less than 2 weeks to clear out - and right before Christmas; a sad day. We stopped in Del Norte and painted this little church - fortunately, in the middle of the day when the temps got up to about 15. We were a stiff, understandably, this was our first day out in the snow since last spring. In the summer and fall, you forget - just how hard it can be: to paint with mits, stand in 10 inches of snow - drag very stiff paint over the panel.
I also forgot how quickly things freeze and when I added water to the acrylic that I use for an under painting, my panel instantly became a skating rink - Hmmmmm.
Oh yes, it is all coming back to me now.
Note to self: next time thin the paint with your coffee.