And To All A Good Night

I want to send you wishes of love, joy and peace for this holiday season.  Keep those you love close to you and you will never feel the cold winds on a Winter night.  See you in 2017!

"Silent Night" Original Watercolor
on Yupo Plastic Paper
Krys Pettit

White Winters - How Artists Portray the Coldest Season

"Branch in the Snow" Andrew Wyeth

"Winter 1899" Edvard Munch

"Snow Scene at Argenteuil" Claude Monet

"Winter Landscape" Wassily Kandinsky

Snow--I have seen a lot of it in my day, from my years as a child in New Jersey, to the tumultuous tons of snow that landed in upstate New York in the winter (and even in May!) during my college years and the early part of my career.  Living in Raleigh brought ice but an occasional whopper of a blizzard.  No one would drive in snow in the Triangle area if they grew up in the South -- no one knew how. And, of course, the snow was for the most part, white.

But white snow is not so inspiring to many an artist.  We love color, texture and there is more than one way to add color to the fluffy white stuff as you can see by some of these classic winter paintings by the masters that I have shared above.

Below are my remembrances of cold days in upstate New York.  They are both small fleeting pieces of work in watercolor - perhaps because I was always ready to leave the crisp frigidity of Winter for warmer places.

"Winter Sunset"
Watercolor by Krys Pettit

"Early Winter Afternoon -Tioga County New York
Watercolor by Krys Pettit

Picture Perfect Pears

"Petit Poire" watercolor on paper
Private Collection

"Pair of Pears" watercolor on paper

"Juicy" watercolor on paper

"4 Pears" watercolor on paper
Private Collection

Some artists love to paint still lifes -- bowls or fruit or vegetables on table tops with maybe a bouquet of flowers, a vase, or even a candlestick for more atmosphere.  Personally, I don't enjoy painting still lifes.  Let someone else do the delightful pomegranate or lovely plum.  However, I have this fixation with pears.
Love to paint pears.  I'm not sure if it is the sensuous shape - they are not just round, the are a combination of round and triangular, almost classically shaped, each one individual and unique, unlike say a lemon or an orange.  And the colors vary -- from a warm yellow, a deep rich red  to a bronzed gold with markings and stripes decorating them.
I've painted them in oil and watercolor -- I prefer watercolor.  It seems a better medium to bring out the transparency of their rich colors of their skins.
But I love eating them too -- sliced with vanilla ice cream, partnered with asiago cheese. Or maybe in a classic French tart this this delightful recipe thanks to the great pastry chef, David Lebovitz.
David Lebovitz Pear and Almond Tart
Right now it is pear season so stock up on all those beautifully colored, sweet and juicy jewels.  Eat them if you must -- or just use them as some very willing models (and gobble them up when the art work is complete.)