North River Road and West Presland Road. Oil on canvas. 46 x 56 inches. January 16 - 17th 2005.

North River Road at the corner of West Presland Road. January 16th - 17th. It was the day after our wedding anniversary.

For two weeks I had done several drawings and taken photographs during the day and at night. For four weeks I sat in a chair at night looking out the window. I would look at the landscape and thinking about my palette. My attention was focused primarily on the light from the street lights and snow in particular. Five days prior I had prepared the canvas and did a basic foundational layer to give me something to work with (under 10 minutes time spend).

I set out at approximately six o'clock at night. It had been a clear day - very few clouds in the sky.

The roads were extremely icy. So when I biked with the transport unit I made a point to use the main roads.

It was Sunday night so the roads were pretty empty. The location was very close to where we were staying in temporary accommodations. So before starting painting I had a large meal. Good fuel to keep warm.

It was cold that night. -18 degree Celsius plus a wind chill. I am not all that sure. It felt like -26 degree Celsius.

I took my time to set up my palette and organize my materials (15 - 20 mins).

After about an hour or so of painting three police cars arrived. Someone had made a call. I suspect they must have assumed that I was doing some spray paint / graffiti / vandalism. The police were very nice and encouraging. One of the officers was extremely interested and had many kind encouraging comments.

the police were called out

the police were called out

The night folded into itself and the lead white paint stiffened up and was hard to work with. Soon the titanium white followed. So I decided to squeeze out less on the palette and keep the tubes of paint in my leg pockets and jacket.

The size of the canvas and complex composition made it rather over ambitious. My body was working hard to stay warm. My feet really got cold in my boots. It was difficult to concentrate and maintain a high level of focus. I really pushed myself. Headaches grew stronger as the night fell silent.

The details in the trees grows more fine the longer you focus on a particular branch. But to be honest I had to work fast, hard and not stand still. Keep moving and keep painting.

I did not bring a watch so I was unaware of what time it was. I was about 90 plus percent complete…. I was unaware that it had started to snow. My painting had a fine layer of snow film on it. I had not noticed it was snowing very gently for about 10 - 15 minutes. I was in a zone where I refused to acknowledge my feet, my fingers, face, bones… I had blocked out. Once I noticed it was snowing I rushed the painting into the transport unit, collected my things and biked back home.

When I returned to the studio I turned on the heater on full and put the painting in a stand up position on a plastic box close to the heater.

I had to wait for the snow to melt enough to not work on with flake snow crystals (5 - 10 minutes). I spent about 15 minutes doing very small but necessary changes. I really wished to minimise the time spent in the studio… for I really wished the painting to be as true to the experience of painting outside that night.

It was tempting to fix, add, improve, refine detail. Reluctantly I worked on the sky. It is was the only area I worked on when I returned to the studio. No work was done on the lower half of the painting.

When I returned it was snowing and the wind was blowing. While I was biking along McArther and Vanier road a young girl not very warmly dressed asked me for a cigarette. I suspect she was trying to find work.

It was 2:28 am when I walked in the door.

My fingers and face were very dirty with paint. I had 20 plus minute shower. Relaxed. Sat in a chair close to the window and heater and distilled. I went to bed at around 3:15 am.