I've been skiing since I was a child. I love to ski when I'm all bundled up. This winter is a lot of snow, but I do like it. It's an adventure. I'm from New Jersey, where there's more ice than snow. It's not as pretty. I actually chose Syracuse University because of the weather. The two figures in the painting are a father and son. My father played a big role in teaching me to ski. I often ski with my family and it's a great bonding experience. I love the way the light bounces off snow. It's normally blue or purple at a certain time of day. When you ski, the snow is constantly changing, and I like to look at that. No skier would be that close to a tree, but I wanted to put a tree in, so I bent the rules a little. This is different from a lot of my work, but I hope people can still sense it's my style.