Ice Fishing Shanties in Brattleboro, VT

Ice Fishing Shanties - Stage One

On the first paint out day away, we spent entirely too much time trying to find a great spot to paint.  The issue we had in beautiful Chesterfield, New Hampshire wasn't that there weren't enough scenic spots (blanketed with a gorgeous snowpack), but rather there was so much snow, that the embankments prevented convenient access, both for parking the car and walking to a spot.    Instead of the coveted covered bridge scene, we found a location behind the Brattleboro, VT Retreat that overlooked a frozen tributary to the West River, a feeder to the nearby Connecticut River.   



Ice Fishing Shanties - Stage Two

Ice Fishing Shanties

It seemed scary that there would be fishing huts on river ice, but obviously the local experts knew that the state of this frozen inlet was safe.    The colorful fishing shanties dotted the ice and the deep blue snowmobile tracks crisscrossed between them.   On the far side, Route 30 paralleled the river and there was a farm complex of red structures.    I framed the scene for my painting so that the central snowmobile tracks would enter in the bottom left and travel diagonally up to the far river bank, stopping in front of the cluster of red buildings where there was a river access.

The paint was so stiff in the cold that after applying it, I had to dip my palette knife into turpenoid and smooth out the bristle marks, especially for the smooth ice surfaces.   I'm still waffling on adding more shanties.  It's the part of the scene that I liked most, but would adding more of them improve the painting's design?  You be the judge, and I'll comply with the majority. :)

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