Wild Grapevines in the Snow

There’s nothing like the first snowstorm for excitement! When I wake up in the morning, hearing the wind howling, I think OH BOY! I’M GOING PAINTING!

But you have to consider parking. It’s rather shocking to go from being zoned-out, totally absorbed in your painting to suddenly realize you’re about to be run over by a snowplow! Been there. Done that. None of our roads had been plowed when I went out this morning, so I drove to Barnes Township Park. It’s a tiny park overlooking Lake Michigan. It’s never plowed and I felt perfectly OK, hogging the middle of the parking lot in my F150.

Oh, for dramatic, dark, “epic” storm clouds! Like the ones you see in the movies. Alas — today everything was just a sad, dull gray. A mad snarl of wild grapevines caught my eye: possum grapes. They snaked hither-thither through the beeches and ironwood like an explosion of gold! I’d found my subject…