Earlier this week I chatted on Skype with some relatives in Switzerland, and they reported that they had received my Christmas card. I always do an original painting for the card, and the subject of the painting is always a secret until they have been received. I think it is safe to assume that the cards have all been delivered, and I can now share the painting with you here on the blog.
The paintings that I create for my Christmas cards are usually based on photographs I have taken while on my travels. However, with the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, I went for thirteen months without traveling. My painting reflects that reality with a scene from only a few miles away from home.
Many times, I have taken a photo during a summer trip, and then used my imagination to convert the scene into a winter landscape. Although I have never been to Europe in the winter, I have done paintings of a snowy Norwegian fjord, a Swiss lake and a French village. For this painting, however, I did not need to use my imagination.
On Christmas morning of last year, I woke up to find that we had a heavy snow during the night. It was the first white Christmas that we had had in a number of years. I got dressed, grabbed my camera, and went out in the car. Driving the short distance was a bit tricky on the snowy roads, but I made it to a park in the center of my hometown of Olmsted Falls. There is a pedestrian covered bridge which crosses Plum Creek. From that bridge I took the photo which is the basis for this painting. When I looked at the photo, I said to myself, "Even if I am able to travel in 2021, this will be my Christmas card for next year."
Best wishes to all of my readers for a very happy holiday season!
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