JANUARY SNOW Cows, and willow trees

The painting below had a tricky beginning. I'd forgotten my double-dipper so had to paint with pure white spirit and no oil medium - the cold and fine snow seemed to affect the texture of the paint so it felt quite dry despite liberally using the wet spirits. 

 Cows at the watertank in snow, and Willow Trees

The following day, going back to do a little more to the above, the cows proved a problem. They came right up to the  two-strand electric fence, gazing curiously at me and bellowing frequently. A bull with a ring in his nose and steaming nostrils joined them and when he bellowed he had a destinct tenor tembre to his, whereas the cows and full blown bass voices. Odd that!

Looking towards Little Cheverell

All this was unerving and I couldn't really concentrate standing two feet from the fence, with 20 ton of cattle steaming so close to my elbow, so I did the painting above, moving off about 20 ft (observing the  1ft per 1ton, safety rule:) and standing with my back to them  - still unerving and checking  behind me every now and then!! This time mislaid my rigger, an essential  brush, for lines and detail, so the painting hasn't reached  a successful conclusion.

Then I was facinated, watching a small flock of starlings flying back and forth, like they weren't sure where best to settle. It looked a primal landscape, more like from a Bruegel painting, hardly like England.