Terrill Welch

Winter Snow Paintings from Terrill Welch

On the southwest coast of Canada during the winter, mostly it rains. Sometimes the rain freezes as it falls. Then it snows. Most often it snows half -heartedly. But the transition always feels expectant because it has the potential of being so much more and stunningly beautiful.

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Early March Snow Japanese Garden Mayne Island BC by Terrill Welch
  • Terrill Welch
  • Early March Snow Japanese Garden Mayne Island BC, 2017
  • walnut oil on gessobord
  • 11 x 14 x 0.2 in
  • Inv: TW1285O
  • C$1,780

A rare walnut oil quick plein air painting sketch of the Japanese Garden in the snow.

Reaching the Japanese garden on the other side of the island, I notice that the snow has stopped temporarily in the -1 degree Celsius early March wintery weather. I gather a few photographs for a friend and then settle into paint after setting up my French Box easel in the bamboo shelter on the east side of the gardens. I paint feverously for an hour. It starts to rain and then rain and snow as I am finishing up. My toes are cold from damp wool socks from when I stepped in a puddle. By all accounts the midday light is bleak and the weather miserable. But the work is done.

This small painting sketch is a series of half finished sentences in a shorthand painting language that provides rough reminders for a later more thoughtful and larger work.

Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Includes simple wood frame and hanging wire if desired.

  • Collections: Mayne Island Japanese Memorial Garden, Mayne Island Landscapes Small and Large, Small Oil Paintings