“The Warmth of Home”

In the past my prints have always been scenes of actual places. The winter art print, “The Warmth of home,” however, is completely composed from my imagination.  I’ve tried to capture my ideal winter setting.  Growing up, I of course was always drawing.  So one year, I got a learn to draw kit for Christmas.  I had drawing paper, pencils, etc and a book with lessons in it.  I couldn’t wait to get started and, before the new year, had drawn through one half of the book.  The next picture was going to be my favorite of the whole book even though it was quite simple and about perspective.  It looked as if you were standing on a road that wound around in the snow into the distance.  Way down the road you could see just the top of a house with smoke rising from the stone chimney.

This has always stuck in my mind.  I guess I’ve probably drawn many versions of that winter scene over the years.  Then one year, I decided to make my dream picture come to life.  First of all, I decided the house had to be an old English Tudor style with the lights on and smoke coming from the chimney making it inviting.  If I would really live here, there needed to be a pond just like to one here on our farm.  We live off the road with no other houses in site and love the privacy.  Another perk is that we have a whole herd of deer that live around our home.  There is hardly a day goes by that I don’t see them from our back door.  Since I’ve been confined to a wheelchair, they have been a delight.  We enjoyed them so much, I added a pair to the scene.  

So here a pair of white-tail deer pause in the snowy stillness across the pond from a beautiful English Tudor home.  I have always loved the quaintness of this style of English cottage.  The warm glow through the windows and the smoke drifting from the chimney truly radiates my version of “The Warmth of Home.”