Normally, I would have been lamenting the lack of snow this winter, but the deep freeze we’ve had with no snow recently has allowed me to adventure through the woods onto ponds, streams and bogs that would be completely inaccessible other wise. The lack of snow has also allowed me to witness the layered freeze patterns in the ice of the streams and ponds. I happened upon this one spot that my daughter and I called fairyland only recently, despite its being only a hundred yards from our house. I’ve been going there everyday because it’s so stunningly beautiful, and because it feels like I am in the midst of primeval forest in a five-minute walk. I happened upon these abstractions on one of my recent trips there and was floored by the variations in composition, as well as the graphic quality and depth of the formations. For as long as I could stand it, I drew thumbnails of these, and when my fingers burned with cold, I realized that I had my camera only ten minutes away…I spent the rest of the afternoon taking photos of these patterns – lost amongst them – truly transported to fairyland. These patterns have been the inspiration for a series of watercolors I’ve recently started. They’ve also inspired a new project I just started called freeze-thaw that I’ll describe more later….
