A Sea of Frozen Basketballs

If April showers bring May flowers what does a January freight-train from the Arctic bring? Winter showed up for a second round last week and brought with it a lot of nights in the single digits. Some of those nights had some wind to go along with the package and the end result was our first real crop of ice dunes down on the beach. The lake is frozen for the first time out as far as you can see, though it may not last for long as tomorrow it is supposed to be 50 degrees.

 I can't explain why, but in this particular instance the ice has formed in spherical lumps. This happened a few years back as well, but it is still an impressive sight. The beach appears to be lined with frozen balls stacked up on each other in impressive mounds up to 8 feet high. Many of the balls are basketball size. Then after they were cast ashore they were then covered in a layer of snow about 8 inches thick. That layer will likely be melted away by the weekend and the basketballs will be revealed in their naked glory.

 But until then you will just have to admire them in their more modest dress. Because of conditions, I couldn't really do any work down there this weekend, I could only admire nature's handiwork, but hopefully this weekend will create some opportunities.

 So this is where I left off with the "Wave". It is likely to be a while before any new work can be done on it. I have, however, been painting up a storm. I probably put in about 20 hours over the last four days.

 This is the last painting I finished. It is about 4' x 2' with a projecting form off the front. My second experiment with painting with a three dimensional component. It is not entirely finished yet, but you get the point. Cheers.

The New Year is Dressed in Winter

 It finally came. The snow. It dusted Christmas and carpeted the next day. We've been wearing white since then. When it is like this there is limited work to be done on the beach. Both today and yesterday I went down to see if anything wanted to be made and the cobbles spoke up, asking to be stacked. I walked down a ways and the only thing of interest along the wateredge were the carcasses of at least five big fish. Troutish looking fellows about 2 feet long. I don't know what possessed them to give up the ghost, but there they lay as repast for some Greater Black Backed Gulls. Today when I went down the wateredge had become an ice-edge. The foundation is layed for this year's ice dunes. Below are some pictures of the Wall with some snow and ice.

 The following three pictures are some shots of the "Arbolisk". This is pretty much the finished version, but for some black trim along the base of the pillar. It works better with the leaves than just letting them go right up to the base. It is two feet tall and two feet wide. The first of some experiments with three dimensional images.