Ice Dreams

Before going to Florida for the holidays to visit family, I started this pastel.  We were getting ice and cold, but nothing like is depicted in this pastel.  The photo came from a friend who does get this kind of ice and snow in Syracuse, NY.  The original photo has a large tree branch filled with snow in the leff hand corner.  In order to show the shadows I wanted to show, I eliminated that tree and the branches.  It is a beautiful photo, but I think, as a painting, I needed to put that large block of shadow in, falling off the page.  I hope it shows the movement I felt in those tree shadows.

pastel 11x14 on board