Jumping the gun a bit with Mountain Magic revisited

By Gordon Henschel , North Island Eagle, December 13  2019

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It’s getting to that time of year, with the December rains driving us to books beside the fire. Wet down here at sea level doesn’t necessarily mean wet up higher. This morning, between showers, I pedaled my bike down to the ocean at Hyde Creek, facing north all the way until the big turnaround uphill to come back home. 

As always, puffing and panting as I reached the top of the hill, I faced the Karmutzen Mountains in the distance. To my delight, they had changed their cloak to white overnight, and were showing off, highlighted by a rare sun that had somehow forced its way through the November grey. 

YESSS!!! That meant that Mt. Cain had received its first winter blanket. How good is that, if you’re at all interested in having fun in the snow up there? I know this painting is jumping the gun a tad, but the kid in me made me do it. Some years ago I was trudging around Mt. Cain without skis or snowshoes in late winter on snow that had a thick crust on its surface. I made my way to an area that would have been out of bounds to skiers during the regular season, sat down in a gorgeous late winter sun and did a small sketch which I later washed with watercolour.  Looking through some photos of old paintings the other day, I came across a photo of the small watercolour which had long ago gone to some collector’s home.  Using the photo of this previous small painting called “Mountain Magic”, I did another larger one and called it “Mountain Magic Re-visited”.