Gaily Mill in the Snow

I'm actually quite surprised that this is the first subject I've painted (apart from still lives) that is actually in the village I live in. Well, it's sort of right on the edge of the village, but it's a building, so it "belongs" in the village, while largely unbuilt-upon hills do not.


This is from a photograph (even if I was tough enough to work outside in the snow, which I'm not, there hasn't been any of that particular type of weather recently. There wasn't much snow at all this winter, apart from a few days at the end of January). It's noticeable how much more detail I included in comparison to today's more impressionistic bluebell wood - but, then, I was racing the weather (which followed the forecast and turned colder and then wet this afternoon) when I was painting outdoors today, while I knew I would be able to come back to this one. I did; it was started on Friday and finished yesterday (Saturday). Gaily Mill is also a more complicated subject than a woodland scene.

Oil on canvas, 40cm x 40 cm
11 May 2013