It had snowed off and on during our two-week stay in the southern Highlands of Scotland. Toward the end of our time there we had a major blizzard that dumped about eighteen inches of snow on us over two days. The sitting room/kitchen of our cottage had views of the glen in three directions, and since we were confined to the house I set up before the windows and painted inside.

My paintings are normally 11 x 15 inches or larger. I paint on heavy gessoed paper taped to a masonite board. However, on this trip — due to the cold, precipitation and sudden light changes in the landscape — I started working small, 7 x 11 or 5 x 7 inches. I would tape three or four surfaces to my board at one time, so that I could respond to changes in what I was seeing. With this painting I started working on a view of the sheep feeding in the pasture below us, but decided I wanted to get more of the landscape into the composition. So, I moved onto the adjacent piece of paper which allowed me to include the small bridge over the Shee Water and the outlines of the farm buildings in the distance — hence the diptych.

As I worked on this, Jim sat at the kitchen table and sketched a similar view.