Polar Vortex

"Polar Vortex" 6"w x 6"h, Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais, MN

On the eve of weather forecast that's charting a system predicted to drop up to fourteen inches of snow with forty mph. winds and subsequent sub zero twenty below temps following ... I thought this piece titled Polar Vortex was appropriate. As a working artist, it's easy to lose the artist in you as you endeavor to paint the next best painting, try to keep up with demand and balance all other aspects of life in the process. The artist in you refers to expressing your emotion via artwork. With this piece, the darkness of the foreground, icy pine ridge and distant foreboding sky are influenced directly by the sub zero weather we've had this winter. I used a simple palette of ultramarine blue and titanium white for this paining, letting the black canvas dictate the contrast and give that mysterious cold darkness to the background. The stark birches in the foreground are resolutely standing through the bitter cold, just like the people who live up in this winter wasteland, toughing out the weather, waiting for better days. I've heard that this polar vortex weather is the coldest on record, with the U.S. receiving the brunt of the cold this winter while other parts of the world experience record warmth. Today 'm going to lay down the paintbrush yet again and pick up the shovel, stock the wood in case of a power outage, and prepare to stand resolutely against this polar vortex. Please contact Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN for more information on this painting.