Thursday, January 30, 2014

Winter Morning Birch Trees





Winter Morning Birch Trees
Judy Vars
Original Oil and Cold Wax Painting
60 x 54
4,500.00



As a long time Alaskan, I've noticed that were all obsessed with the sun and with most in the winter there is not enough sunshine to keep my mood up and in the summer there is too much sun, it shines way, way, way  past sleeptime keeping me awake and hyper all night long. Today in January the days have started to get a little longer currently the hours of daylight are a full seven hours and 30 minutes.

This time of year the slanted angle of the sun and the far Northern latitude make for the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets that I have ever witnessed. Sometimes the light is pure lavender in the sky and on the mountains, sometimes the sky in powder blue, sometimes it’s lit up like a campfire, and sometimes it’s every shade of pink God makes. Since I’ve lived here I have seen sundogs, ice halos around the sun and the moon, phantom lights that I can’t explain and northern lights. One thing for sure it’s never ho-hum .

As an artist and nature lover, I have contemplated the sunlight and the atmosphere for decades, and as an artist I have the hubris to attempt to duplicate what I see in nature through my art.

Winter Sunrise and Birch Trees has been a labor of love. At the beginning I applied the Fibonacci sequence and the golden mean to make a pleasing composition (this left brained activity made my head hurt) This painting was developed in stages some areas have up to 10 layers of paint. To pump up the paint and give the birch trees added texture and dimension I used cold wax medium, the effect is one of hyper reality. The kind of experience we Alaskans wish the rest of the world could experience. 



Treat yourself to some serenity take this morning sunrise birch tree painting home today.