I haven’t made it to Nashville yet. Too much work to do! I’ve been in Tennessee 10 days so far and haven’t left the countryside. I may not make Nashville this time around but I will be back. I do have a preference for doing my art from life. The conditions and limited time frame of drawing from life compared to studio work are drastic. But some times I get ideas for paintings that require more effort than sketches. Often the subject matter at hand may not have a suitable place to sit and draw and only a quick reference photograph can be captured. This is the case of the large (for me) acrylic painting I am working now. I have been drawn to a single apple tree standing alone in a field with a wooden ladder with a broken wrung leaning up against it. I especially liked it naked of it’s leaves and it’s bare branches exposed. It was brutally cold and the snow was very deep when I finally saw the lighting I was waiting for. I parked the truck on the side of the snow and trudged through the snow quickly to get some shots. I made several compositions with the camera and hurried back to the truck as fast as I could.  Once I had the pic I could use it for a large studio work later..any time or place. Not hard to set up a portable studio. Why not on a house boat on a lake in Tennessee?