This was my first painting on campus at Pendle Hill after having moved to the area from Richmond, Indiana a few months before. I was finally settling in, and after having studied the grounds for the past few weeks I selected this as a possible subject. I was fascinated with the height of these “young” Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia) trees, with the pines and building in the background. One day in early January when I went outside in the morning I discovered that it had warmed-up overnight. At the time it was already in the low 50’s and would reach the mid 60s degree range by afternoon. Here it was a winter’s day in the northeast and folks were walking about in shorts and t-shirts. Having grown-up in central New York, little or no snow in January was a novelty to me, so I took this opportunity to capture the warm winter light on these trees and building which had been previously covered recently in snow, and would be again soon.