The Shade of Winter

My husband and I love to drive the Country roads near where we live (which is where I find my photogenic subjects). Golden hour and blue hour in winter yield magnificent reflections of colour on the surface of snow. In this painting I was drawn to the light in both the warm and the cool use.
Juxtaposition and balance of both colour and mass were elements that just seemed to work so perfectly without having to do much at all to the Original photo.
The rich, amber texture of the sparkling ice and snow on the vines on the sunlit side of the barn contrast so beautifully with the smooth saturated almost electric blue of the shadows in the snow. And then of course the soft peach of the surrounding snow outside of its shadow… Are made for a breathtaking subject to paint. Oil on wood panel.