Yes, I can actually do a plein air painting and NOT drop it in the sand! Here is one of the many I’ve done of ice pyramids. Having come from Iowa, the land devoid of ice pyramids, I find them fascinating.
I painted this late one afternoon around Valentine’s Day last year. This was down at Barnes Park, in Eastport. It takes a bit of determination to get here. First, there’s a couple hundred foot struggle in knee-deep snow from the parking lot to the edge of the hill. Then there’s a long, steep hillside down to the shore. If it’s icy, turn around and go home!
I was a total greenhorn about ice pyramids. I’d clamber right up, set up my easel and paint happily away. Several years ago I stumbled across an article that warned of the dangers of standing on ice pyramids. Very unstable. You could fall through a hole and not be able to get out. Since they can be 6 feet high or more, it’s likely nobody would see you. You’d freeze to death. Coyotes could come and eat your face off!
A couple times last year I saw families with little kids, running wild over the lake ice, blocks out from shore. Did they ever stop to wonder about how thick the ice was?
Here’s a photo of my setup for this painting.
Besides the horrible possibility of freezing to death in a pyramid hole, I can’t help taking notice of all the dog tracks on the sand. Dogs? Or coyotes? Wolves? Cougars? Sasquatch?
Margie Guyot Art 