Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Nocturne #5, Snow
16 x 16   Oil on Panel

Normally when I step outside to study the night it takes a little while for my eyes to adjust to the change of light, but not on this night. The moon was low and full and big. It illuminated the sky and bounced off the new snow. My shadow suggested it might not be nighttime yet. I began to wonder if it would be cheating to call this a nocturne. I waited and watched as the moon ascended. It had only been an hour or so since the snow had stopped falling. The clouds were gone but there was still a lot of moisture in the air. The thickness of the atmosphere beneath the celestial dome gave the sky a lovely violet hue. I could feel the cool moisture all around me and began to consider the possibility that I might see a moonbow. After a while the moon was far enough away from the earth and the reflection from the ground sufficiently subdued, that I felt confident when I painted the scene it would indeed be a nocturne. Still, when I went to bed that night there was so much light coming in the window I got up to make sure I hadn't left the porch light on....

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Fantastic sky and delicate colors on the snow and background. I like almost as much as your still-lifes.

Eulalia Benejam Cobb said...

This may be a document for future generations--what moonlight in Vermont used to look like. So beautiful.

Angie M. said...

Wow! I love the violets. This is my favorite so far and I look forward to the rest of the series.

Lori Twiggs said...

Your painting screams atmosphere! What a gift to be able to portray such feeling in a painting.