Painted on August, 2024. 48” x 30”. Acrylic on stretched canvas. Price $1400.00 Unframed.
I have a complicated relationship with winter. On the one hand, it’s a time of peaceful solitutde that I find very rejuvenating. Conversely, I also find the wet grey weather on the coast can be both oppressive and draining.
I wanted to challenge myself with a painting that was able to find the beauty and colour in what was seemingly a drab winter day. I also wanted to challenge myself with a very atmospheric winter landscape that had a monochromatic and subdued lighting. I wanted to keep it a subdued painting, but still allow glimpses of colour through the layers of paint.
For this paintin, I chose a reference photo that I took at the end of a snowstorm that had deposited several inches of snow on our property. The weather was changing, and the sun had just started to break through the clouds. It was subtle, but there were places where I could find colour in the grey frost or reflected off the Salish Sea.
The painting also showcases a large alder tree that was in front of our house. The tree is no longer there, but it lives on in this painting and provides an interesting entwinement of branches in silhouette from the winter sun. I was particularly happy with how Texada Island appears to emerge from the weather. Soft edges are hard to create with acrylic paint, but the results were what I was hoping to achieve.
This large painting (4 feet by 2 ½ feet)currently hangs in a prominent place in our living room above the fireplace. It’s got me thinking ahead to the coming winter and whether we’ll get snow or not.
