Winter Light

What interested me about the forest vista in my painting entitled Winter Light, is the pleasing effect of sun falling on patches of pristine snow. If you are familiar with my paintings, you know I like to focus on the effects of light at dawn, noon, and dusk – each with its distinctive tonalities. The time of year – winter for instance – has its subtle effect on the quality of sunlight, like the time of day does.

I first noticed the dappling of light and shade, the pure radiance of beams of light on snow, when Nanette and I were cross-country skiing in Yosemite Valley, California. It may have to do with the crisp clarity of chill air, it may have been the heightening of senses due to our exhilarating afternoon on the snow, but whatever the reason, the sunlight on snow that afternoon seemed some of nature’s most radiant. Winter Light, a painting I created many years ago, was an attempt to capture that effect.

As I worked on Winter Light, it seemed to me that the glow from the painting filled my studio. I pray this luminous subject will fill your home with its special light.