IF YOU’RE STILL COLD, IT COUNTS (series), February 2026

If You Are Still Cold, It Counts (series) are an immediate response to walking through Canadian woodland. It was far too cold to paint outside, so I painted indoors as soon as we got back, painting fast to keep the connection alive. I think if you are still cold, that counts, and so the name of the painting is also a reference to my practice which is paint-from-life, with an extra rule.

The four paintings respond to the striped light of bright winter sun through trees coming from different directions. They are all dominated by long shadows striping through the woods, cutting across the snow, blue and white, with vivid grounds pushing through at every edge.

The light was almost violent in its brightness. What I wanted to capture was not the prettiness of snow in woods but the shock of the light and the way it hits you, the geometry it makes when it is that sharp and that low. The grounds keeps the tension alive and stops the blue and white from becoming peaceful.

Acrylic on Stone Paper, 29 × 21 cm

If You’re Still Cold, It Counts I is selected for the Society of Women Artists’ show, 2026