Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Connecticut River in Winter
9x12, oil/canvas panel
Thawing Ice
9x12, oil/canvas panel
Winter painting is always a challenge. Colder temperatures present a number of problems for the plein air artist. Keeeping your hands and feet warm is one of them. Keeping the oil in the paint from thickening up is another. But despite the inconviences winter painting is wonderful. "Thin" winter light and long dramatic shadows are visually interesting, as is the skeleton like structure of the trees. Winter scenes are all about the balance between the subtle and the dramatic.
I have news for you: The stag bells, winter snows, summer has gone
Wind high and cold, the sun low, short its course
The sea running high.
Deep red the bracken; its shape is lost;
The wild goose has raised its accustomed cry,
cold has seized the birds' wings;
season of ice, this is my news

(9th century Irish)

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