"Snow arrives early in Siberian Tiger country. It is a taste of things to come. This will be their first winter and the tigers are relishing the new experience. "I love to paint tigers.Wet fur is is a delightful challenge as is back lighting the cubs with the reflected light from the snow. I wanted to have the tigers coming out of the woods toward the viewer and to make you believe that they are really a part of this landscape. "I have never painted thin ice before, and I really had fun playing with the reflections in water and then over the ice. There certainly are a lot of elements to knit together in a piece like this and very few short cuts!! I love the contrast of the loosely painted snow, the confusion of the branches, and the soft detail of the tigers." Matthew Hillier