Here are a couple of my last paintings from 2020. Both were done from photographs I took in early 2020.

Early in the spring (probably just before COVID-19 shut down everything), I walked to my local marsh. It had snowed. Sumac branches in front of me and elm branches reaching down were covered with a heavy, wet snow that clung to every surface. The marsh ice had started to break up so you could see the cold, dark water. But, thin ice remained in other places, almost see-through in some. In the background, all the pine branches dropped low with the weight of the snow. The morning sky glowed behind the heavy clouds, forecasting changes to come.

I felt somewhat unhinged in the spring after the lockdown and took a lot of walks. On my neighbour’s land, I came across this horse-drawn sidebar cutter. Although most of it was rusty, some yellow paint remained on the wheels. I’m drawn to old farm equipment like this. I imagine how useful this tool was. And, also, how much work it would have been to cut your hay with your horse and this tool! Resting here in the field just before everything springs to life around it, the cutter seemed to say to me, “look at what has been and was, and think of what can be and will”. Sounds like Janus, looking backward and forward at the same time.

These last paintings from 2020 seem a fitting tribute to the year-end. Happy New Year everyone!