George McLean Presents "Winter Deer

"From my perspective, the best way to experience winter is through a painting. I mean winter is an impediment to travel and can virtually isolate an entire community for days at a stretch. Howver, in these times I am reminded of Tennesee Williams' remark" "that an artist should live, not only where he can work but where he must work." Grey County, Ontario, is beautiful, perfect to paint but receives far more snow than it needs and leaves me no choice but to work. Everyday, blizzard or not, I strap on my snowshoes and I trudge across the fields and through th ewoods, getting my daily excercise and experiencing the landscape which I paint. I know this country well and have seen most of its animals, as well as all its light and weather conditions. If my pictures have veracity, that is the reason.

Wineter can be unkind to th edeer herds when the snow lies deep on their trails and food is scarce. The deer, in my painting, stand on the edge of a white pine plantation with an ancient pine in th eforeground. Loggers have long since ravished the big timber in southern Ontario, leaving only the big trees without adequate logs. Such is the case with the pine in my painting and it is this huge tree that gives the landscape the character I had in mind. This is the first heavy snowfall and has hanged autumn's face as if by magic... a deceptively gentle introduction to winter." - George McLean