It’s not even New Years and I’m already thinking about what my favorite piece of local woods will look like in March. Fortunately a photo I took last year was available for reference, so I fired up the time machine and jumped ahead three months to this spot near the headwaters of Six Mile Creek. This is the general locality that I’ve depicted in four earlier oil pastel pieces. I hike there often and always see something new that excites me. This particular lean-to is the only structure on the entire locality, except for the wooden boardwalk over the marsh upstream. The lean-to has been there many years, likely updated, since my adult children knew about it as favorite spot during their teenage years well before the establishment of the Roy H. Park Preserve in 2007. What attracted me to this composition, both in the photograph and final painting, is the way the lean-to floor, post and slanted roof line neatly frames the view beyond where the creek can be seen below. The lean-to is a non-natural constructed element, but it beautifully blends into the environment. The foreground trees provide a second frame and add to the depth of the piece. I hope you enjoy viewing the painting and maybe I’ll see you at the lean-to next spring.