Embracing Winter

Anyone who knows me knows that winter is my least favorite season. I like to be outdoors with my hands in the warm earth or sitting on my deck painting and communing with the birds. Winter in northeast Ohio is not the place for this, but I've decided that I'm going to try my best to embrace winter this year.


I bundled up against the cold and headed for the beach. There was a strange comfort in the silence and there were still signs of life in the desolate terrain.

The path lay before me with not a sign of any human activity, but I did find tracks of the birds who still call Headlands home during winter.  Their winter dance left behind a beautiful abrstract in the snow.

I found a bush along the path, it's folliage long gone, giving way to glorious red berries that shone brightly against the stark white snow and remined me of a Jackson Pollack painting.

The beach grasses had taken on a warm, golden orange tint and stood in stark contrast to the cool blue of the sky.

Lake Erie's southern shores remained open and flowing, and there were only traces of ice floating near the beach.  The sand lay mostly hidden beneath a thin blanket of snow.

I returned home, chilled by my outing but inspired by the quiet beauty of my journey.  I thought about the artwork that mother nature had left behind in the aftermath of all those warm, sun filled days I had spent on the beach, and I thought about how much more pleasant the winter will be if I make the choice to look at it differently.

I decided that if my little squirrel friend can embrace winter, than so can I.  Who knows what "Happy Creating!" this new perspective may lead to as I open the pages of my art journal?