This painting is just under 18 feet (5.48m) in length and is hard to photograph,but the color and the contrast is fairly accurate, even with the uneven photography.

When I listen the music and read the Allegro part of the Vivaldi’s Winter Sonnet:

Now we walk on the ice, with slow steps,
attentive how we walk, for fear of falling

If we move quickly, we slip and fall to earth,
again walking heavily on the ice,
until the ice breaks and dissolves.

We hear through the closed doors
Sirocco, Boreas and all the rushing winds at war –
this winter, but such as brings joy.

I feel that this music and those words speak to those bitterly  cold temperatures and hard numbing winds that we who live in such climates, scurry quickly inside to avoid, and certainly dislike.  Maybe the word “joy” in the Sonnet refers to the relief one feels with the warmth of a fire, a cozy blanket, and shelter from the wind.

Thinking that way, this one work, is going to use a lot of white, grays, and blues that are the look and feel of ice and bitter cold.  Also, I must find a way to depict the raw winds. And finally, to push this artwork, hopefully, I can offset this wintry theme, based on  that one word  joy.   Taking that word, I am thinking I can bring in some bright contrasting colors, to shake up, and lighten the mood of this work, while increasing this artworks overall emotional grasp on the viewer.

That is the thoughts, and we will see if this artwork cooperates.

Scott Von Holzen