"Basket Bushes" -- plein air field study -- oil on panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

My neighbor Jerry tells me these are called "basket bushes" because of their shape. They're some kind of cedar that grows in the wild, up here in NW Michigan. Some can get quite large. These were "youngsters". I liked the design of the cast shadows and deer tracks in the snow and wanted to do something rather abstract.

We've had a few partly sunny days and the snow is beginning to melt down a little, especially around the base of trees and shrubs. It's been melting and freezing, off and on, for the past couple weeks. The nice thing is that it's created a rather hard, crunchy snow surface that will hold me up when I walk on it. Otherwise I'd be sinking in up to my knees.

This morning I took a long walk down Old Dixie Highway and found a sure sign of spring: a wild pussywillow tree, loaded with catkins! Looking forward to going painting in a T-shirt again.