The Fuji Series... Fuji Appears in a Stand of Trees

I painted "Fuji Appears in a Stand of Trees" in Missouri during a blizzard. Once upon a time I was traveling in my pick up truck across the country from California to Maine to begin a job in the middle of February. I was following an enormous snowstorm and had avoided difficulty for the most part; but one day the storm switched track and sometime before noon I was finding it difficult to keep driving. 

Finally, I saw a hotel and pulled off the highway, not without trepidation... I was on a very tight budget, and this was something of an upscale establishment. Inside, the desk clerk gave me a quote on a room which was well beyond my means. 

I thanked him and said that I would have to look somewhere else. He said that there was nothing else nearby and "Ma'am, I would not like to think of you going out there in this weather, we will be happy to accommodate you." There I stayed until the storm had passed, billed far below what I might have paid elsewhere.

I finished three small paintings during my stay... this little homage to Magritte, my Acorn Fuji and Masked Fuji.

There is a significant amount of weather driven hardship that the people of Missouri are facing during this holiday season and the memory of the desk clerk's kindness is very much with me today.  

Fuji Appears in a Stand of Trees

Acrylic on Paper

6 x 9"     Photo by Jay York