Oil on canvas, 30 x 48 inches
Exhibited: Saks Galleries, Denver
 
Thank you to the collector that purchased this oil and to everyone at Saks Galleries for making it possible.
 
About this oil:
It is a task and real joy to come across something simple and transform it into something more beautiful, even memorable. That is one of the joys of painting landscapes.
 
I set out to saturate the light and have it envelop every part of this scene. The rooftops and the snow are an obvious part of that, but for this painting everything else had to be affected as well.
 
All of the trees are collecting light and the snow on the small hill is refracting it. The large hill in the back and the tops of the barns are each reflecting light in their own way and as a counter point, the trees in the middle are more opaque, adding more mass and new colors to the center.
 
This oil presented a number of options for entirely different looks, but I held to the idea of a light-infused snow field that would dramatize this cluster of barns and out buildings. That made my decision of how to do the sky extremely important. As soon as I put down a pale, yellow wash, I could see the entire scene jump to life. By adding pinks and blues to the sky, the yellow receded to the left where its visual power increased.
 
Those same sky colors are repeated in the snow, tinting the whites and adding to the overall glow. The strip in the middle is bordered top and bottom in a pale radiance, and that contrast amplifies every detail of the buildings, trees and shadows. It all made for a very satisfying and colorful result.