Small Wonders

Last Light  ©Kesler Woodward 2017  Acrylic on canvas  20" x 16"

Winter seems to arrive later and later here in Interior Alaska, where three decades ago I could usually ski out my back door on my birthday in early October, and the Chena River reliably froze solid in the third week of that month. This year we narrowly escaped having a snowless Halloween for the first time in seventy years. But our beautiful, downy snow is finally here, not only covering the trails, but sitting atop every twig and surface, brightening even the night.

The four small paintings I've completed since my last post are testaments to my anticipation of winter before it came in earnest, and to my ongoing exploration of the mysteries of winter light now that it has arrived. Dreaming of Winter was painted before the first sticking snowfall, when I was engaged in exactly that reverie. Last Light, Gleam, and Glint are ruminations on the subtle but real differences among first light of morning, last light of evening, and the early winter sun's occlusion by beautiful birches at the entrance to the woods.

           

Left - Glint  ©Kesler Woodward 2017  Acrylic on canvas  20" x 10"

Right - Gleam  ©Kesler Woodward 2017  Acrylic on canvas  20" x 10"

In both Glint and Gleam, I was determined to have it both ways--beautiful birches up very close, staring us in our faces, with just enough space around them to suggest the particular winter light.

Dreaming of Winter  ©Kesler Woodward 2017  Acrylic on canvas  20" x 16"  

Comments

[Carol Crump Bryner]

Lovely paintings, Kes. I was walking on the Coastal Trail here on a grey, snowless day a week or so ago, and was struck by how many Kes paintings lived in the tree trunks next to the path. It's wonderful when nature takes on an artist's style and sensibility! You have made all your fans and followers see your art wherever they look! That's definitely a good thing.