that moment, when dawn breaks and light spills first through a crack in the clouds, then shines in the winter light, the first snow glistening on the trees, silky white icicles hanging from the windows like drops from children's noses. The first snows, the excitement in the hearts, the ephemeral here to stay a day or maybe more. The snow, always fascinating, the world was transformed into a bed of white.
Where I live, it doesn't snow often, if at all, so to find myself in Normandy with a white blanket covering the landscape was an extraordinary moment.
The ephemerality of snow is so seductive, one rushes to enjoy the moment before it melts into muddy water.
The painting is one of those moments, the children absorbed in the activity of building the fantasy of a snowman, already thawing. The soft shades of white emphasize the curious calm and muffled sound that the snow contains.
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