#2076 "Snow Day Cedar"

From early March 2018...

It had snowed hard overnight. About 25 centimetres of wet and heavy snow had accumulated. The depth of the snow would have been double that if the flakes had remained as frozen dendritic aggregates. The snow accumulated on the trees in a characteristic way and that was the reason for this painting and the following series of snow studies. As well snow is not white but takes on the values and colours of the environment. I took a nice walk along Long Reach Lane to capture the fleeting moments.

This is looking toward the Fork in Long Reach Lane with the minimal morning light on my back. The forest was quiet and dark in the dim early morning light. The mound of marble and the ancient red cedar that I painted in #2075 "Long Reach Snow Day" was in the foreground. I was standing in one of the very few natural breaks in the northeast to southwest ridges that cross the Frontenac Arch Biosphere. These ridges are all that remain of an ancient mountain range that was created when continental plates collided. The path to our place follows the branch of the Fork to the left.