February Is A Weird Month

February is a weird month, isn't it? It's like the awkward middle child of the year, caught between the excitement of the holidays, beginning of a new year and the long, slow slide toward spring. 

I often start the year trying not to read as much news as the year before, and make lofty goals about all the work I'm going to finish in my studio. Not generally an art-buying time of year, the month of February also begins with a feeling of "Welp. This will be a quiet few weeks.. Might as well get some painting in." But it often ends up surprising me that people are still acquiring prints and originals in February. Perhaps they didn't quite get what they wanted at the holidays and are making up for it?

Then there's the weather. One day it's snowing, the next day it's sunny enough to tan in your backyard. February weather can't make up its mind! It's like Mother Nature is playing a game of weather roulette, keeping us on our toes. Here in Bethlehem, we had some decent snow to start the month off. Then the temps dipped to a week of zero and below. President's Day weekend saw a giant storm that dumped a fresh six to eight inches on us throughout a full day of blizzard conditions. Digging out from that was quite a task.

On top of that, the end of the month will be time to start maple sugaring again. We tap up to fifty trees and try to make 8 to 10 gallons of maple syrup in our driveway using a tiny evaporator and all the wood we can get out hands on (I spent some of the year thinning our woods and bucking up lots of hemlock to dry for burning). Sugar season always starts out exciting - seeing the sap start to run, collecting gallons and gallons of it in preparation to boil it all down, and tasting the first sweet rewards. But it also involves weeks of hard labor, long days and constant attention taken from any spare time we have. By the end of the season I am exhausted!

I aspire to get out on winter hikes when the conditions are favorable, but I can't say I've done any good, long days on the packed, snowy trails. A walk around the pond near my day job, a short trek to a frozen waterfall. Nothing above treeline or miles out into the woods. Booo.

One bright spot that involves not only being outdoors but also painting is the upcoming annual Snowcamp, a three-day plein air workshop taught by Stapleton Kearns. I've missed out on signing up for this in years past for various reasons, so when I saw the announcement about it this year I jumped. It will be a big challenge to be out oil painting in cold conditions for three days. Who knows if it will be snowing, windy, sub-zero, or what else, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

So, that's February. We carry on and embrace the weirdness of the month, with its mix of failed resolutions, unpredictable weather, and cabin fever. We're living in a strange month in strange times.