It’s been almost 20 years since I moved to New England, and every time it snows, it feels like the first time. Twenty years is a lot of first times, I can tell you that! I think I will never lose my wonder and amazement when I open the door after a huge snowstorm. I love how the whole world gets buried under ten feet of snow, how the green of boxwoods and pine trees contrasts so sharply with the bright white, and how the snow reflects every ray of light.

Now if you’ve read the story of my painting “Hydrangeas in the Fall” you’ll see that I love my hydrangea plant, and it’s the reason I did this painting. After a snowstorm, the first thing I see when I leave my house is my hydrangeas. It looks like this: all the leaves are gone, there is a huge tangle of branches coated in ice; and within the tangle are the gigantic flowers leftover from the fall, dried and dead and hanging heavy with snow. It’s absolutely gorgeous. So obviously, I had to paint it. What is something you still enjoy seeing no matter how many times you’ve seen it before?