Jan 2/07 Tree,8"x8", oil on wood

Today's painting behaving opposite of badly. While much of the city was shut down, I laboured happily, diligently at my studio...this is one of four studies for larger works...perhaps it doesn't look very grand or impressive but it gave me great pleasure when I looked at it at the end of the day. I saw in it, a tiny glimpse of what I see at this time of the year when I walk my dog on the mountain early in the morning. The palette precise, the temperature correct, in it's simplicity, more accurate -- for me -- than any photograph could be of this certain place at that certain time...