Snow Tree 2009

The winter of 2009/10 was severe.  I remember minus 20 recorded at night and a day time maximum of minus 10.  Much to the delight of my older daughter it snowed so much one night at the beginning of January that the school closed the following few days.  The snow was so deep it brought a community spirit to the area with neighbours working together to dig cars out of the snow for each other and building snowmen together.  It's the only time I've ever seen the brooks near our house freeze over.  The cold went on for weeks, starting a week before Christmas and throughout January.  Although February wasn't as bad it was still freezing.  I would say that the summer made up for being in the freezer that winter, however the summer was cold and dull.  The following winter was another freezing one. 

A frequent theme in my art is trees especially in winter.  The shapes they make and the contrast of the dark branches against an often white or grey cloudy sky are interesting in an otherwise uninteresting winter morning or afternoon.  I like them and dread them.  I like the patterns, I hate day upon day of grey sunless gloom which is the time that these trees are bare.  Winter 2009 was a refreshing break from the usual grey gloominess of a typical British winter.  That year was sunny, the snow reflected the light and enhanced it.  We could walk anywhere without being knee deep in mud.

This latest drawing tries to capture the contrast between the snow and patterns of the tree branches.  The snow reflects the light thus a blueness that one can see in snow on a sunny winters day.

Snow Tree 2009, pen and coloured pencil drawing, A4