In the first week of February and the deep freeze continues. Day after day of single digit temperatures and lows below zero. January had a couple of days above freezing but the new year has been the coldest that I can recall. Erie also is the snowiest city in the US according to the media, but I question that. Somebody has to have had more than us. I have not been able to work in the studio yet this year. I have moved operations indoors for the time being. Usually the cold will drive me out of the studio for a week or three, but I have now been in exile for seven weeks. The piece below is the last piece of 2013. I have incorporated some of the "Beachwork" ideas into the painted medium here. It is six feet long and two wide. It is not exactly what I had in mind, but it turned out OK. I'm closing in on the first big piece of 2014. I hope to have it done by the end of February. It is another sculptural type painting.
I have attempted to add a video here. It is the first time I have tried such a thing. It is a panoramic view of the frozen lake from atop an ice dune right in front of the current Beachwork. If it works I might be motivated to branch out. My fingers are crossed.
This is what the "Beachwork" looks like at this point. It survived the winter storms intact and is now awaiting further work once Spring unlocks the beach. This is the view from straight on...
This is the view from the check dam facing west out over the lake.
This is the view of the whole wall from out on an ice dune. To give you a sense of scale the project is over seventy feet long. New ideas for extending the project are brewing.