Monday, December 29, 2008

The Colors of Winter

Hola!!! Hope that everyone is recovering from Christmas and getting ready for New Year's. The temperatures have finally risen to the upper 30's and low 40's, and the snow is rapidly melting. Yay!!!! That means that my husband was home last night for the first time in over two weeks. (I don't know though...I was kind of starting to like having the bed to myself...lol!!!) The downside to the snow melting, is that it reveals the bleak colors of winter. Winters in WA are not colorful (are they anywhere??), and this is because the sun never shines. And I don't care how immune you think you are to the weather, the total lack of sunshine makes you feel crabby and somewhat depressed. Some people even suffer from a disorder called "Seasonal Affective Disorder," or SAD, and let me tell you, WA is not the place for them; at least this side of the mountains...lol!!!!
Above is artist Patrick St. Germain's Winter Solace, and I thought that it was a good depiction of the dreary colors of winter, Below is another painting by an artist named Ray Hendershot, rightly named New Moon. (Have I ever mentioned that I am an art fanatic?? Well I am, and I have spent way to much money on artwork in the past. There is nothing like a beautiful painting, especially if it is by an old master, to get my spirits up! Though of course, I only own replicas, not originals!!)

Do you happen to notice the common color scheme in both pictures??? Yeah, I thought so...lol!!! It may seem that I am never happy with the weather, but if you remember, I never complained about the heat/sunshine during the summer. I think that means I need to move to a place where the sun shines at least 300 out of the 365 days per year, don't you??? I even know some blogging buddies who would like to join me (wink, wink!!)

Oh well...a girl can wish, can't she??? Kind of like the girl in the lovely painting above by Hans Dahl, titled Springtime In The Fields. (Fields?? What fields??? It looks like an inlet/fjord to me!!!) So, I am trying to be positive, and think of spring/summer, even though the skies are bruised looking, and it is raining sideways due to the wind. And hey, at least my hubby is home, right??? LOL!!!! I am also looking forward to riding a couple of times this week, so things are definitely looking up!! Have a great Monday you guys!! I am off to the grocery store in the wind and rain. At least there is not a foot of snow on the ground though. :)

15 comments:

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Whew. Melanie! So glad to read that you're getting a reprieve from snow and cold weather, and that hubby is finally home again.

I know what you mean about having the bed to yourself, though. With any movement making my knee hurt, hubby is sleeping on the guest bed. All my stuff has taken over the bed now, and it's MINE! lol!

Ya know, we've got gorgeously sunny winter days with bright blue skies. The sun shines at least 355 days a year in New Mexico.
I don't think I could survive anywhere with grey skies, rain and no sunshine for weeks on end. I'd be very SAD. :P

So, come on out to New Mexico, my friend!

~Lisa

Chelsi said...

I know a few people that suffer badly from S.A.D. but I think we all do up here in the north as a chemical reaction to lack of sunlight/light. I found that the snow actually helped lift my spirits a little at least in the sense that it made everything bright again... but now that is is raining and everything is muddy and gray, I dont think I would say it was worth it.

Your love for art shines through in the taste you have developed for it. What BEAUTIFUL paintings you have posted!!! The colors are reflective of the low and dull colors of winter but also of the, the smoothness that such colors create...the monochromatic dreamy quality of it all is captured... which I really appreciate. Thanx!

Did you get your books yet *grin*

C.

Grey Horse Matters said...

The paintings are lovely. I like the old masters too and like you only have replicas. Anyway, the skies around here look gray most of the time, glad the fog is out of here after a few days. We looked like the first picture through the trees.
I could go for a little sunshine too. Have a great ride when you get to it.

cdncowgirl said...

Those 1st two pics, although a bit gloomy, have a dreamlike quality. I think they are quite beautiful.
If I were pressed to name a favorite artist it would probably be Emily Carr, I love the movement in her paintings.

Gail said...

Glad things are heating up!
We must have the moisture to make that beauty return.
I love the art!

Melanie said...

Lisa-355 days!!! Are you freaking kidding me??? I could SO live there!!! You could just bulid another chicken coop, and my family and I will move in with you! :0

Chelsi-Yes, the snow definitely helped! Now it feels so bleak and desolate without it. I left you a message about those darn books on your blog.

Grey Horse-I love a good painting. You know, the kind that you feel you could step right into?? Hope your weather improves also!!

Cdn Cowgirl-I love Emily Carr!! I read a really neat book about her last summer. She does paint a lot of movement in her pics. They remind me of Diego Rivera's paintings of the native people of Mexico.

Gail-Thanks!! I love your cattle...LOL!!

Andrea said...

Hooray for hubby being home!! My husband worked away from home for 4 months. It was miserable. But I did enjoy sleeping in the middle of the bed. I was sad when I had to move over and share it again. LOL!!

And a field huh? It sure looks like a lack of feild there. Definatly more water and rock than fields!! LOL!!

Train Wreck said...

Whoever could you be talking about...Who would like to join you? (innocent blinking) me me pick me! lol! I love your beautiful pieces! Love the colors in the first two! Makes you want to jump in, even if they are winter pictures. 300 days of sunshine! I am there!

lytha said...

thanks for the art - i like the "fields" one: )

i have this dream of decorating my house with my own photography - that is, if i remember to turn the quality up before i clicked the shutter, *giggle*

the photography would be washington state, which you have to admit does stay pretty green in winter compared to the rest of the world.

glacier national park gives some really nice photos, have you ever been there (montana)? switzerland is the prettiest place i've ever been, and glacier park looks almost just like switzerland's alps.

good that there's no REI here for me to go to and spend a fortune in the art section (photography). that's the kind of art i like best!

agh, now i want to post some washington state photos on my blog.....how to make that horsey-related...hrm...

~lytha in silver and grey and brown west germany

p.s. i just found out i live in the city in germany with the fewest sunny days. totally like my former home huh?

Beth said...

it was in the 40's here yesterday too...we had our 20 inches of snow melt. Which meant flooding basements...so much fun.

I hate winter.

Unknown said...

I knew you had a liking for art - your comments on my Baltimore Trip post tipped me off.

I am so glad your hubby is back. That will be so nice for you.

Yeah WA is not that place for people to be with SAD - my old boss had it, never knew it till she moved up here from southern CA, needless to say she was unbearable in the winter times - as i got a new job somewhere the heck away from her.

I am that you're snow is melting and a tad jealous. Ours wont be melted by June. I know cause we still had piles of snow in the yard last June.

We got hit by another storm yesterday - added another 12 inches to our total, which would make for amazingly deep snow but some of what we had melted off on Sunday - so now you can still see the tips of our T-Post out in the field.

Even over here we'll can go for a month or so with seeing any sunlight at all in the winter time. Last year we went a record of 29 days with out a shred of sunlight in the month of January - it inspired me to make a name and label for my hubby's beer that he makes "Grey Sky Brewery"I will have to post the label sometime...

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

I don't think the winter weather really bothers me until after the New Year-then I start getting anxious for nicer weather and get very irritated with winter's dullness.

Those prints are beautiful though. I love art-prints are fine with me-art values are so subjective that I can't imagine investing in an original. If I like something, I want to enjoy it for that reason, not worry about whether the value of the orginal is up or down-LOL.

Unknown said...

Sepia. That was the word that just drifted in on the beautiful light in those paintings.

I am a wimp about cold and weeks of cloudy days would make me very unpleasant and weepy. ick.

Texas Hill Country, girl. Sunshine, trees, hills and bunches of horses.

C-ingspots said...

Hi Melanie, so glad to hear you survived the holidays. Spending time with family can be so very trying...I can relate. And, I am with you on the melting snow!! Yippee!! it's gone and now we have rain and mud again. We have had some sunshine mixed in for good measure - even saw 2 rainbows yesterday. So, I'm surviving the bleak days so far. I am one of those SAD sufferers in the winter. So far this year it's not so bad - I do think the snow helped. I too, love your beautiful art prints. I think they are just gorgeous and love your depiction of "just stepping in". Very good way to put it. Enjoy your rides my friend and just let all of the bad stuff roll off your back. Glad your hubby is back too.

Fantastyk Voyager said...

I absolutely love that first painting. I have a thing for trees and lines. I'm always photographing trees in winter for their stark skeletons.

Here in New Mexico, with all the sunshine, people get really thrilled with cloudy days, probably because we don't have many of them. However, no one knows how to drive in rain or snow here.

I have some art: a couple of Bev Doolittle lithographs, an oil painting by W. Potter, seriolithographs by Krasnyansky, Tarkay, and Schaefer & Miles, and a poster print by Van Gogh. I also have an oil painting and a drawing by my Mom which are very special to me.