"Chores Almost Done"

My wife and I sneaked away for a quiet celebration of our 43th anniversary.  (Now why on earth did we get married in January?  Oh, yes, now I remember!  We just couldn't wait any longer!)  We went to north-central Ohio's Amish country.  We'd had substantial snow the few days before our getaway, but were able to traverse the highways.  The sun was out on our first evening, so Ellen said she would drive, so the camera in my hand would not endanger our well being.  (What could she possibly mean?  My friend Tim Deibler has been reported to take copious numbers of photos while he drives, but I refuse to verify the charge!)

The pinkish-orange late day light on the blue-lavender snow was an electric—though ephemeral—effect that I tried to reproduce in this palette knife piece.  I added the small farmer and his dog as a counterpoint to the large, brash-colored shapes of the barn and other buildings.  Happy Anniversary, my sweet!

"Chores Almost Done" was selected as part of the FAV15% (jury's favorite 15% of the entries) in the February 2014 BoldBrush Painting Competition

Part of the SPRING NOAPS ON-LINE Exhibit

NOAPS informed me that my entry was selected for the 2014 Spring National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society (NOAPS) ON-LINE Exhibition:  "The quality of the work submitted was excellent and the jurors had a very difficult job selecting 150 paintings from the over 500 paintings entered.  Many of the paintings entered were EXCEPTIONAL and you can feel very proud and honored to have your work "Chores Almost Done" accepted.  Your painting will be proudly displayed on the NOAPS website: www.noaps.org."  I was then notified that my piece had been given an "Award Of Excellence."  Thank you very much!