Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver

What do you do when you live in a place where it's either still snowing or the uncovered rural landscape looks like it needs a thorough refreshing? You're not in the frame of mind to set up a still life. You want to go OUTSIDE and paint, but you're longing for color besides the winter landscape?

Take yourself to town and find an alley with interesting shapes and colors.

If you're not used to painting around other people (who aren't painting) this may be out of your comfort zone a bit, but that isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it's just the nudge you need to get excited about painting again. You may or may not have uninvited viewers checking out what you're doing. Sometimes they will be people and sometimes not; like the squirrel running back and forth on the wires above my head as I painted April Morning Alley. You might make a new friend or collector. You might just have a great day painting outside. You might not end up with a painting you love, but you will have learned something valuable from the experience.

And usually it isn't as windy in town as it is in those countryside areas.