One of the paintings I sold this year, this one at the holiday season, “Snow at Night” went home with someone who loves it.

I love all my paintings or I wouldn’t share them, but this one wasn’t a favorite at first. As soon as I finished it that January night in 2013 I thought it looked cliché, too precious, kind of made up to look like a greeting card version of a snowy night. I shared it on my blog, but then I put it away for a few years, trying to figure out what would change my feeling about it. But really, that’s what a heavy snowstorm has always looked like in the view out my back window, and I’ve always loved that view, not just the back yard, but the valley beyond, that feeling that all of us in all these houses are part of this same storm, and hopefully all are safely snuggled inside with warm yellow lights and watching the snow fall.

Others really seemed to like it so I framed it for one of my local exhibits, and hung it on the wall in my home with other paintings of local and nature scenes. I could see it as I went up and down the steps, and over the years it really grew on me until I smiled each time I saw it. This year I knew I wanted to use it for my December desktop calendar, and really, I just couldn’t wait to share it then. I worked out a way to make simple small holiday ornaments from my artwork this year and decided to make this painting into an ornament as well.

Just as I want cats I foster to go to the home that will love and cherish them forever, I feel the same of my artwork. I want it to go to a home that will love it, and smile each time they pass it. So I’m very happy for “Snow at Night”.

Though the original is sold, you can still purchase prints of it:

• Until December 31, 2019, you can purchase a free matted print if you register for an account here on Portraits of Animals.
• At any time you can purchase a digital print, giclee or canvas print, framed or unframed.
• I still have ornaments if you’d like to stock up for next year.

Below is what I had to say about it when I finally shared it here…

What looks more warm and welcoming in this month of holidays and celebrations than a home with warm yellow windows on a snowy night?

From the window at the back of my house I can see out over the valley and the hill beyond. When it snows at night the scene is transformed from black velvet punctuated by rooftops and streetlights and lit windows to a hazy wonderland of blue and creamy white, the familiar rooftops and trees given depth and dimension by the falling snow. Just like “Frosty Morning, Just Before Sunrise”, I’d been visualizing this little painting of the snow falling at night, the house with lit windows nestled into the snow-dusted branches and bramble and trees, silhouettes of rooftops beyond, the lights of Carnegie’s Main Street brightening the view behind them, then the haze of snowfall where normally I’d see only darkness. It looks quaint and kind of cliché, but it looks like home to me.

This painting is done in Sennelier pastels on Fabriano Pastello Tiziano paper, in the dark green hue. I knew that I could get the softness I wanted from the Sennelier pastels on this paper which has a nice soft surface to capture pastel, and though I wasn’t sure I wanted the texture of the laid finish it worked well to break up and soften the edges. I used three tones of Prussian blue which is a cool blue tending toward slate blue and tempered it with violet and gray in the shadows, then added pinks and yellows to the lighter areas. The windows, of course, are several shades of yellow.

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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.