#2760 "Sugar Maples Syrup Spring Holiday"

#2760 "Sugar Maples Syrup Spring Holiday"
10x10 inches oils on canvas

The snow would not last long so I decided that I had better seize every and any opportunity to be outside painting. A rainstorm would arrive overnight and much of this snow would melt the following day. 

Some spring-like temperatures arrived three weeks early prompting some people to start tapping their maple forest in mid-February. We decided that the wacky weather was going to make it hard enough on the forest and the maples in particular so there would be no fresh maple syrup in 2023. 

The spring migrants were starting to arrive. The great blue herons would arrive the next day. A chickadee landed on my head while I painted. I was not quick enough to take its picture and that is OK. The swans and geese were making a lot of noise in Jim Day Rapids. The red-breasted woodpeckers were also vocal. I had long thought that their song was that of tree frogs but there would be no such amphibian out in the Singleton Forest in the depths of winter. The geese are honking and splashing around like crazy today. All of nature was starting to pick its territory and getting ready to mate. 

Most professional artists do not sign the work on the front of the art so that the signature does not distract from the content of the work. I subscribe to that notion although it took me a few years to do so. My friend and mentor, Mario Airomi would use bold and large strokes to sign his name and I followed his excellent example. It was when I focused on plein air that I really began to minimize my signature. I felt that my style had progressed enough that it would be recognizable to anyone who knew. All of the details are included on the back of the painting anyway. 

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Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick