Spring Thaw at Matthaei

Time passes so quickly. When we had all that snow I couldn't walk around in, finally started to melt I grabbed up my french easel and headed back out to Matthaei Botanical Gardens. We had such a great run of weather and the big snow was melting fast. The frozen pond was breaking up and golden shoots of dried grasses were showing through everywhere. The little foot bridge was more visible too and with the dark evergreens as a backdrop it made a lovely scene. The plein air painting I started was 14" x 18" and a little too big to finish in one sitting so I intended to come back in the next day or two and finish it up. Well that didn't happen as soon as I would have liked and the scene changed dramatically. The snow had completely melted. Instead I did a different painting that day and later finished the snow painting in my studo. When that happens I call them "Hybrids" since they are not all one thing or another.