Edouard Manet, so famous for his many works that advanced our ideas about painting, tried his hand at painting snow scenes. He gave up, saying that no one could do it like Monet. So what does Monet do that is so special? Snow normally reduces landscapes to a rather stark scale of black, white and gray. In some cases it covers things that might be rather ugly, like old poorly kept houses and dirty streets, with a lovely blanket of white. However, even forests to the casual observer are just dark branches, deep green conifer needles, and relentless white.
Well, Monet was never a casual observer of anything, and we can see in his painting above that he in particular took note of the sky. We have all seen those wintry skies when the light fades around 4:30 in the afternoon and the sun, no longer in plain view, still lights up the undersides of the clouds. That twilight sky is Monet’s special touch in this painting. As travelers on the road in this painting, that colorful sky not only alleviates the dead of winter, but it gives us a touch of the beautiful that we can really appreciate since we also see houses coming into view, which means our cold weather journey is about to end. So we notice those little spots of color, perhaps the last of autumn still coming through the snow on the side of the road. In particular, we can wonder at the way the crystalline ice over the snow shows itself blue while reflecting winter sunset pinks. It is all an enjoyable experience that we can talk about over something hot to drink before dinner when we arrive home, just a little distance down the way.
Monet’s skill and Manet’s dictum aside, snow paintings have been done by many other artists, with a variety of different feelings and effects.
Here we have a fellow Impressionist, Camille Pissarro, once again putting the viewer in the cold countryside, but not too distant from home. We see the figure leaning forward in the direction of the buildings, clearly indicating his intent to get there and inside. The atmosphere is once again a winter twilight, right at late afternoon. Pissarro infuses the scene with blue, ranging from pale blue to deep blue-violet and touches of lavender, all effective ways of rendering the feeling of cold. The eye-catching beauty belongs to the trees. Their gnarled trunks and branches have caught and held the snow, bringing traces of white up from the foreground into the main picture plain and finally up to that frosty blue sky. Those same trees in their black and dark gray stand out against the blue-gray and blue-violet background, indication of more dense forest in the distance. The tree branches dance, leaning like the man in the foreground away from the direction the wind is blowing. All this forward movement points to the sturdy buildings not too far in the distance. Once again the viewer can enjoy the cold beauty of winter without fear since shelter is not far away.
Of courses, romantic paintings of the snowy countryside are wonderfully appealing; however, it snows in the city, too. Gustave Caillebotte, friend, and patron of the Impressionists and a fine painter himself, gives us a different winter view.
Here the viewer is safe and warm inside a building rather high up and one with a city view. Of course the steely gray of the city in winter makes for a feeling of closed in isolation. Yet there are some nice touches of muted red that lead our eye into the picture, from the close in clay chimney pots to a distant façade of a building. However, the thin strip of dead gray sky falls like a heavy curtain, sealing us in with little desire to go out. Caillebotte was a man about town who was always out and about. In fact, he is probably most famous for his painting of finely dressed people strolling the streets of Paris under their umbrellas, but yes, still strolling in the rain (see his Paris Street Rainy Day, 1877). I like to think that in this painting of snow, he was perhaps feeling a bit trapped by the miserable weather and decided to turn it into art.
Snow is still a worthwhile and interesting subject for painters. The piece below is by a talented young Colorado artist who does plein air painting, Jared Brady, see jaredbrady.com/artwork
Brady captures the vertiginous slant of the mountain with its aspens marching downhill in almost military formation. They seem to push aside the conifers to take center stage as the subject of this painting. The sunlight on the snow moves the eye back up the hillside to a bit of exposed reddish rock (this is Colorado after all), some distant evergreens, and beyond that to the blue sky. That sunlight becomes dappled, as its rays push back into the thickness of the trees. That dance of light is cheerful. The whole scene leaves one with the feeling of having just taken a stroll in the forest after a fresh fall of snow.
One way to really appreciate the elements of a painting such as Winter Light is to see how the artist approaches doing it. Brady does not leave us out of his process, as we can see here in his video, Winter Aspens, showing his plein air techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH_YxPV2hpo
Well, after all of this wandering about in the snow, it is now time to come in from the cold and see what we can do to warm ourselves up.
Paintings are in Public Domain or used with the artist’s permission.
Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.
Mulled Wine: Recipes for Wintertime Cheer
As with so many things that have come down to us, all roads lead to Rome. It was the Romans who spread this cold weather drink all throughout their vast empire. Yet, it was the Ancient Greeks who tipped the Romans off to the wonders of hot wine with spices. For the Ancient Greeks, it was a matter of what to do with low quality wine. Pouring it out is never a good solution, so as the winter winds began to blow, the idea of warming the wine up with a touch of spices and citrus seemed like a good idea. The fact that it made you feel good obviously meant it was good for you, even medicinal. In fact, they named this concoction after Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine. For more on this story and other aspects of mulled wine in history plus eight recipes to try, see “The Long, Storied History of Mulled Wine” at vinepair.com
Having spent a number of years living in Avignon, which had its heyday in the 14th century, I naturally turn to the wisdom of the Middle Ages. When the winter winds come blowing down the Rhone River, I can tell you, a hot wine is a near lifesaver. The comments below attest to the wisdom of those medieval times.
“Spiced wines were usually made by mixing an ordinary (red) wine with an assortment of spices such as ginger, cardamom, pepper, grains of paradise, nutmeg, cloves and sugar. These would be contained in small bags which were either steeped in wine or had liquid poured over them to produce hypocras and claré. By the 14th century, bagged spice mixes could be bought ready-made from spice merchants.”
These comments on spiced or mulled wines, and the recipe come from the Medieval Drinks section of Life in a Medieval Castle castlesandmanorhouses.com It would seem that the idea of mulled wine as a comfort drink in those cold medieval castles spawned an expansion in the spice trade with the introduction of those pre-mixed spice packages. One can only imagine the competition to come up with winning names for each mix, designed to enthrall the women who shopped for the castles.
But let us leave the chilled confines of the Middle Ages. We live in the age of crock pots and slow cooking methods. Yes, you can allow the ingredients to mellow for two hours as suggested in thespruceeats.com article on slow cooker mulled wine. This technique not only creates a richly flavored mulled wine, but also perfumes the house with cheery warm celebratory scents. On the other hand, we live in the age of instant or almost that, so a twenty minute brew comes in handy when last minute guests come for some holiday cheer.
The photo above comes from Gimme some Oven gimmesomeoven.com and comes with detailed instructions on how to make it. Just click the link above. For yummy things to eat with your mulled wine, I once again refer you to The Spruce Eats for the quick, delicious treat called Devils on Horseback (made with dates), or if you are just coming from church, Angels on Horseback (made with apricots) thespruceeats.com.
While one does not need more that a red table wine to create a mulled wine, it is not necessary to give up drinking the good stuff. For that you might consider joining a wine club. Click on Cellars Wine Club under Of Art and Wine Pages on your left to see the various ways to get into some very good wine from the U.S. and from around the world, including wines in the 90+ category. There is a club for every level of taste and budget and a “no bad bottle” return policy. As well you can indicate which of a number of vetted charities you want Cellars to donate to: cellarswineclub.com
So start the holiday season off with an artistic and creative way to enjoy the snow, like being inside by a cozy fire, looking at snow paintings, and sipping a hot cup of homemade mulled wine. Sounds good to me!
Images of paintings are in public domain, except those from Jared Brady, which are used with the artist’s permission.
Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.
©marjorie vernelle 2019
Coming soon: The Medici Palace’s Procession of the Magi and Sparkling Shiraz.
This portion of wall is just part of what surrounds one completely in the Medici Chapel. Ostensibly designed to show a religious scene, this creation took the opportunity to show off the importance of wealth in all its exotic forms. The Medici were merchant princes after all. The three kings of the Orient are shown bearing royal gifts for the Christ child in celebration of his birth. Since one of the wise men was Persian, he might just have brought another item from his land, a deep red wine called Shiraz, which we can now have in a sparkling form. What a nice touch for a celebration like Christmas.
I love your writing, so interesting! Thank you!
Thanks so much. It is fun to write these pieces and great to hear that people enjoy them.
Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your weblog. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d love to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please blast me an email if interested. Kudos!
Thank you for your kind comments on my web posts. At the moment I am still shaping the direction of the site, and of course I thoroughly enjoy writing these pieces. However, things may change in the future, so please keep in touch.
Appreciate the recommendation. Let me try it out.
Keep functioning ,fantastic job!
Thank you. It is a joy to talk about the art and the wine. Do come back to enjoy other posts.
Thank you, for sharing a very helpful article. Do you have a YouTube channel?
Thanks for your compliment on the article. No, I do not have a youtube channel yet, but who knows what the future will bring.
The https://ofartandwine.com website is one of
the best we have found, and the Let It Snow: Snow Paintings and Mulled Wine – Of Art and Wine article is very well written and useful!
I want to share with you a link that also helped me a lot in cooking: https://bit.ly/easy-fat-burning-recipes
Thanks and kisses! 🙂
Thank you for the compliment and for the website on cooking. OfArtandWine.com is fairly new, so spread the word and do come back to check out future posts.
“This website really has all of the info I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.”
So glad that you found what you needed. Please come back for future posts.
Well, I am only one gal, but still glad you like what you see. Thanks for adding me to your “blog roll.”
“I cannot thank you enough for the blog post.”
Thank you for the compliment. Do return for future posts.
Hmm it seems like your site ate my first comment (it had been extremely long) and so i guess I’ll just sum it what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still a new comer to the whole thing. Are you experiencing any recommendations for novice blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it.
Sorry your first attempt did not go through. I have had this site for a year and one other on art for 1.5 years. I am not yet, a digital marketing wiz (far from it, but I have hope); however, I can say that writing about something you love and making sure the info you offer is sound will attract viewers. It also makes it easier to produce consistent content. Best of luck to you.
Like!! I blog frequently and I really thank you for your content. The article has truly peaked my interest.
Thank you for the kind comment. I am glad that the article was of interest to you. Do return for future articles.
It’s impressive that you are getting ideas using this part of writing and also from the dialogue made at this place.
Thank you. Do continue to come to the site for new posts.
Having read through this I believed it was extremely
informative. I appreciate you spending a little while
as well as to place this post together. One time i again find myself
personally spending a significant amount of time both reading
and leaving comments. But what exactly, it was actually still worthwhile!
Check out my homepage … ReyNKroencke
Thank you so much for spending that time replying to the post. It is so helpful to know that I am on the right track in terms of providing something that is informative and which shows that thought and care were involved in its creation. Thank you, again, and do return for future posts.
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this site before but after going through some of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m certainly happy I came across it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back frequently!
So glad that you found the site and took the time to look through it. Please do come back. I post three times per month, 10th, 20th and 30th. Thanks again for the compliment.
Wonderful article! That is certainly the kind of information that are
made to be shared throughout the internet. Shame on Google for no longer
positioning this publish higher! Happen over and discuss with my website .
Thanks =)
Feel free to visit my site :: ToneyVWirt
Thank you very much. This is a new blog and I am working trying to understand the ins and outs of how to get more readers. My main focus, however, is always the content. I am glad that you enjoyed this article.
What’s up, just wanted to say, I liked this article.
It was actually funny. Keep on posting!
Thank you. I am glad that you enjoyed the information and the humor. Do return for future posts.
Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog.
Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure
things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start.
Do you have any points or suggestions? Thanks
I am a new blogger myself, but I can pass on one or two things. First make sure you know why you want to blog (make money? go viral? express your passion?). You have to have something that interests you enough so that you can turn out consistent high quality content (here passion helps). As for hosting sites, I use Bluehost for OfArtandWine.com (a WordPress format) and WIX for vernellestudio.com I like both for different reasons. You should investigate the various possibilities to find what suits you and your needs. Then it is about marketing your site, and I am still learning about that (SEO, Pinterest, Facebook, etc.) So if you get some good results with that, let me know what you did. Good luck to you!
I would say to write about something you love, so that it is fun for you to write the posts. Be consistent with your posting dates. Offer good information, and appreciate all of those who write to you. You can do your own research in terms of hosting companies and formats.
I always emailed this weblog post page for all my associates, since if love
to read it afterward my friends will too.
Feel free to visit my web blog … LarisaBBayly
Hello Larisa,
Thank you for sharing the blog with your associates. Thanks also for the compliment. So glad that it is a good read for you and please do return for new posts. You might also like the art blog on my other website vernellestudio.com. It deals with living artists this year though art history was the theme in 2019.
I believe this is certainly amongst the most significant
info for me personally. And i am glad reading your article.
But should remark on some general things, The website style is
wonderful, the articles is actually great : D. Good job, cheers
My web site; HoraceGKinde
Thank you so much for the compliment. Please continue to check for other articles of interest.
We’re a small grouping of volunteers and opening
a new scheme within our community. Your website provided us
with valuable info to function on. You’ve done an amazing job and our entire
community is going to be grateful to you personally.
Thank you for the compliment. Please let me know when your community group of volunteers has a its webpage online.
This is a topic that may be in close proximity
to my heart… Best wishes! Just where are your information though?
Take a look at my blog post :: zipper wallet insert for travelers notebook 2020
Great post. I used to be checking constantly this weblog and I’m inspired!
Extremely useful information specially the last section 🙂 I
maintain such info much. I had been searching for this particular info for a while.
Thanks a lot and better of luck.
Thank you and thanks for the good wishes.
I got this site from my pal who told me about this website and now this time
I am browsing this web page and reading very informative content at this place.
Thank you for the compliment, and thank your pal for me. Please come back for future posts.
Wonderful article! This is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared across the net.
Disgrace on Google for no longer positioning this submit
upper! Come on over and visit my site . Thank you =)
Thank you. I am sure that Google will eventually find me.
I just want to say I’m beginner to blogging and truly savored your blog. Probably I’m want to bookmark your blog . You certainly come with amazing posts. Thank you for revealing your webpage.
Thank you for your kind words.
Would it be ok if I link this blog on FB? It’s very relevant 🙂
Most certainly you may link it. Thank you.
Highly descriptive article, I loved that a great deal.
Will there be a part 2?
Thank you for the compliment. Part 2? Well, it is winter again, so…
You might be so interesting! I do not believe I’ve
read anything that way before. So great to discover somebody else with some
genuine ideas on this topic. Really.. many thanks for starting this up.
This page is one thing that is needed on the
internet, someone with a bit of originality!
Thank you.