December Afternoon Holiday Card

A few years ago, a mid-afternoon walk in the fresh, deep snow brought me to Wicker Park on Chicago’s North Side; once inside the park, the sight of trees along the western border halted my steps and filled me with wonder. Weak yet strangely bright sunlight filtered through the bare branches and illuminated the virgin snow below in patches of yellow and white that contrasted with shadows from the trees that appeared blue and purple in the fading light. This painting expresses my feelings in those moments of seeing, with yellow at the lower left representing sunlight, white and silvery grey in the middle evoking snow, and deep blue and purple at the edges indicating shadows and the soul sadness that comes with the approaching darkness every afternoon and especially in December, when northern hemisphere days are shortest. A holly branch to the upper left and a pine bough to the bottom right provide additional clues to the painting’s December origin.