When the snow had finally melted I went walking through the woods and into the lower pasture on the farm behind our house. I came upon a pile of bones from a cow that didn't make it through the winter. The sun was casting low shadows on the bones and I was struck by their beauty. If you don't think of them as a pile of bones they are quite beautiful in terms of shapes and lines and colors. This painting is my reaction to all of the "pretty" pictures I see in the pastel world. I've gotten so weary of majestic, pastoral scenery. I picked a subject that could be considered quite horrible but I think is very beautiful. It's nature, death, regeneration. Kind of a slap in the face visually. It's ugly but it's not. 18x26in pastel
