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Friday, January 18, 2013

This Slide of Winter

So, now we are mostly settled into our German apartment. And it's winter. The dead of winter. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE snow, but that doesn't mean I love dark cold winter. Thankfully Germany gets it's share of snow, though there was a space of a good 3 weeks here where there wasn't any, just the gray and bone-chilling-damp day in and day out. Each day I walked by twisty brambles and craggy ancient trees covered in dark moss, the whole palette quite drab. It was monotonous in a way, yet fascinating in another, as there was (and still is) a sense of newness about even the smallest things here, like the dark twisting vegetation.

"This Slide of Winter" was inspired by an old German playground slide that I pass every day on our street. The slide is located in a little "garden" plot surrounded by gnarled old trees and underbrush, overgrown from winter disuse. The slide fascinated me, something about the distinct design reminded me of a archway or doorway. Combine this with my longing for beautiful fluffy white snow and you have the seed for this image...

This Slide of Winter
This Slide of Winter: Detail of Children

3 comments:

Petra said...

Aw yeah snow is at least one good thing during winter, but I agree that the dark grey days can seem endless. You just have to like 'caving in', drinking tea and making warm food or whatever, that makes it better for me.

Nice illustration :) !

Unknown said...

Oh, lots of warm tea consumed here. And also, to be fair, we picked a place with so many windows that even on the darkest day we get a generous amount of outdoor light.

Glad you like the illustration! =)

theartofpuro said...

Beautiful and magical:)