Winter Road Revisited - 4x8 Oil Painting

4"x8" oil painting on canvas panel
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"The growth of understanding follows an ascending spiral rather than a straight line"
- Joanna Field

I originally approached this scene in a larger painting at the end of last year (original post here). I got this idea a week ago that I should re-approach the very last scene that I painted in 2008 to see what's changed about my style in the last year. It was a fun and interesting exercise for me, and gave me a clearer view about where I'm trying to head now.

I was painting in a more impressionistic style at the end of last year, and while I enjoyed it, I wanted to get to a point in my paintings where I really got to play around with edges and softness and more subtle transitions. I know people that still prefer my older style, and it's not really about which is "better" but which suits me better as an artist. It didn't really click for me until this month, but I finally feel like I'm getting closer to making the picture in my head match what's on the canvas, and I'm excited to see what happens next year!

I also wanted to share this video of Ira Glass with some comforting words about transitioning as an artist. I originally saw it posted on artist Celeste Bergin's blog; I've found it to be very useful, because I know that we're all sometimes a little harsh on ourselves as artists and it's easy to want to give up when you're stuck.