Ice Fishing

This 9x12 pastel was painted late in March, 2007, at the Braddock Bay Marina. It was the warmest day of the year so far, about 65 degrees. The bay was still frozen solid (the ice fisherman reported the ice thickness to be about 14 inches), so I decided to venture out onto the ice to get a viewpoint that is not accessible most of the year. Because it was so warm, I could literally hear the ice melting all around me...it was a stange feeling.

I was trying to capture the warm light on the trees as they were just starting to bud - they made a beautiful contrast with the approaching clouds. The textures and colors in the ice were very interesting and quite difficult to pin down, but I feel that area came out pretty well. This painting just won a 2nd place in the pastel category at the October 2007 Suburban Rochester Art Group Show.

As a side-note, I was painting this day with Colette Savage, and though we were looking basically at the same scene, we came up with rather different interpretations. You can see her work on her blog, scroll down to find the painting also titled "Ice Fishing". We paint together quite a bit, but don't often choose the same scene...so it's always interesting to compare what we come up with.