We finally had a smattering of snow overnight, and it’s been so cold that it has stayed on some of the rooftops despite the lovely winter sun.
I have a lovely, very old, pochade box which was given to me by a friend after her elderly father, who was a well known local artist, sadly died. It is only tiny so I don’t use it often, but it is very special to me. . . I thought it would be ideal to use today and painted a little 5” x 7” oil study of the snowy rooftops with it.
As I type this now the sky has changed and it now has a lovely yellowy hue as the afternoon draws on, I wish I could do another painting looking at it, but there’s always another day.

‘Snowdrift’ 6” x 8” oil on board

We have been very fortunate in Oxfordshire not to have had any snow yet this winter (though we may get a little before the week is out), but I well remember last March and our village being completely  cut off by huge drifts for a couple of days.
My lovely husband Phil had cleared the snow in our drive so I was able to get to the roadside with my pochade box on my lap, and I sat and painted in the -4 degree temperature with a hot water bottle on my knee and several layers of clothes under my coat! The oil paint turned gloopy in the extreme cold and after 45 minutes I couldn’t stand the freezing cold any more - but at least I had a little painting to show for it.
Today I stayed snuggled in the studio, with my assistance dog Boo fast asleep in his bed, and painted this small snowscene, all the while remembering how cold I had been painting the last one!

As you can probably tell, this is my very first post as a completely novice blogger. . . .a very big step for me as I absolutely haven’t a clue as to what I am doing! But way back in the early 2000’s I was a completely novice painter too, having picked up a brush and some watercolours after I had found myself disabled in a wheelchair, with extremely weak arms and double vision. Before I had become disabled I had been an avid walker, and loved nothing more than walking across the fields, taking in the breathtaking views where I live, on the edge of the Cotswolds. . . but with my horizons now very limited, I have broadened them again with my painting. I love nothing more than painting ‘en Plein Air’, but equally, I love to paint in my cosy studio, where I can enjoy spectacular winter sunsets in warmth and comfort! I look forward to sharing my adventures and challenges with my pochade box (I now paint in oils), and hope you will enjoy following them!