Winter Landscape 1984
By Tetyana Yablonska
Oil on Canvas, 22"x 38"
Alright how about some small talk, like the weather in January. At this point, we’ve had more snow in November than December and January combined. Considering it’ll be cold, wet and gray until April, you’re probably thinking who cares how much snow we get! Sooner or later, were going to get pounded a couple of times before spring. Commuting and shoveling (snow removal) aside, take a quick minute to see the splendor of everything potentially being covered in fluffy white snow. The clean soft rounded curves that reshape the sharp edges of a defined landscape. The frosted blanket of white that hides dead grass and the other landscape doldrums that fizzled to dull browns, ochres and grays. Everything is whitewashed. I suppose that’s why it’s so coveted for the holidays.
Winter 1981
By Earle Eyvind
Lithography, 24"x 40"
Snow days meant something else when my children were little. It meant suiting them up in snow pants and gear, waxing down toboggins and inflating tubes for downhill hijinks. Or perhaps snow forts at the edges of the driveway within the mounds of shoveled snow and snowmen on the front yard. Sometimes we would coordinate with my brother to take his wolf sized huskies to the canal trails to hike and frolic with our boys. Sure, we can still do these things, as adults, but our priorities and interest have changed. It’s not about playing in the snow now, it’s more about freezing yourself (pun intended), in the moment.
Winter 1999
By Roure Luis Alvarez
Oil on Canvas, 20" x 40"
On the rare occasion that snow stops everyone in their tracks are even more special, I guess it would depend on your occupation. When everything is closed and you’re told to stay home because of travel advisories, suddenly the gift of a day off.
Try to put the phone down, (unless it’s to take pictures), and experience winter and all its pristine glory. By next week it can be breezy and 40 degrees. The clean fluffy cloak of snow will shrink to dirty misshaped clumps that resembles mounds of wet newspapers. It could be rainy or icy for that matter. 4 -8 inches of wet or power packed snow is something to behold, at least for a little while. I suppose its like being presented with a tall frosty milkshake on a muggy July day and downing it in 5 minutes and getting an ice cream headache.
The Truth About Comets 1945
By Dorothea Tanning
Mixed Media 20" x 20"
Like most enjoyable moments in our lives, its fleeting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a summertime guy through and through. Each season has its charms. I’m just saying, when it happens the next time we get dumped on, take the time to “be” in the snow. See all the elements of a frozen landscape. Catch a snowflake and focus on the natural geometry. Close your eyes and listen to the silent whispers of the falling snow wind through the reaching treetops, not just all the thing that the snow prevents you from doing.