"Snow on the Lines"

16" x 40"
Oil on canvas
Offers Accepted

This painting is hanging in our bedroom and has been since mid-February, 2010. But, it goes to show that you never really know when a painting is "finished." I thought this painting was finished until last night when I was laying in bed staring at it and thinking that it needed a few spots of bright-white in the foreground...So, I added them just a few minutes ago.

There are differing schools of thought on adding to paintings once they are supposedly "finished." Some artists are very much against "retouching" and view it as a blasphemous act that takes away from the original, creative moment. Others, like myself apparently, think it's done when we say it's done. I respect both lines of thought.

I painted this during one of the many 2010 blizzards - I think this was during the first February blizzard. Either way, these are the woods near our house in Reston, VA. The open, white area in the distance is an underground power line that runs through the neighborhoods. It's nice that Reston chose to bury their power-lines. Keeping the area around the lines open has allowed the surrounding neighborhoods to get a lot more use out of the space. There are garden plots, sports fields and courts, and paths all along the lines throughout Reston. It looks pretty good too...