Good morning from the west coast of Norway in March. We have had a very wet and grey start of the year 2020, full of storms, snow, avalanches.  The necessity of removing yourself from the reality of what is outside your window is  what keeps us sane. People have their jobs (hopefully indoors), books to escape into, music, art, sports, etc. We turn inside. Hopefully, soon we will turn outside again. We have had short bursts of good weather and sunshine, but, let me repeat, SHORT.  Just enough to remind us that the sun IS behind those grey clouds, and the days are getting longer. Hallelujah!!!!
I have escaped to Geilo (in the mountains between Bergen and Oslo) where the snow is 3-4 ft. high and still accumulating, and everything outside is white. Now, that might seem like a good thing and it is when the sun comes out and the blue sky, sun and white snow lighten everything up. But white is still a colourless blanket that is cold and lifeless. You can go out and play in it, when you put on 4 layers of wool and wind stopper jackets. The wind!!! Good luck skiing downhill when the wind is blowing 60 m.p.h. Breathing is hard, seeing is hard (goggles take care of that, though). I can take it for about 2 weeks, then I have to come back to Bergen, to my own home, to my studio and friends and family. The studio, especially. I walk around here in our small city and find hundreds of flowers and bushes ready to pop with buds and the azaleas spreading their message.... pink and delicate.
So, when I get to the painting table and squeeze out/scoop out gobs of buttery paint, I have spring in my head. It's time to be done with black, leafless mountains, cold, grey skies, completely white landscapes.....it's time for a change!