The snowhead.

 

ADDED: The "puns" tag is for something Meade says. I make a remark that presumes familiarity with a song that I'm just going to make sure everyone is familiar with:

The hat is back...

 

... and a new head too. A tiny head... but a head nonetheless: 

Yesterday, the head and hat were gone. Two days ago, the full-sized head was there, with the hat, and the overall effect was much more sprightly and exuberant, with the cane flung upward as if dancing like Fred Astaire. Today, with the warmer weather, the snow is sagging, and the snowman, bent over, seems to be using the cane like an old man who needs a cane.

At the Headless Snowman Café...

 

... you can talk about whatever you want.

6:50 a.m.

At the Snowman's Café...

 

... come on in, everybody!

At 6:55 a.m., I got to put the first footprints in the new snow on my favorite forest path.

"The ecologically minded smart city was supposed to replace neglected docklands and disused warehouses with a sea of wooden towers, protected by raincoats."

"Mechanised awnings would protect pedestrians from rain and snow during Toronto’s harsh winters, while traffic lights would optimise the flow of self-driving cars. A network of machines, including subterranean parcel delivery bots, and sensors tracking residents’ behaviour, would provide a blueprint for the connected cities of the future.... Only Toronto has welcomed Sidewalk Labs, making it a test bed for the company. Many residents baulked at the idea of surrendering control to Google, and technology experts expressed concerns over the possible erosion of democratic norms."

From "Google’s sister abruptly cancels work on 'smart city'" (The London Times). So, don't worry, it's not going to happen. Democratic norms can continue uneroded.

"If facts are the seeds..."

Text: "If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow."

Life goes on...

New snow.

Robin in the snow.

This morning:

Surprise, it’s snowing!

Wharf Scene in Winter, c. 1910, Charles Salis Kaelin

We woke up to yet another grey, snow-covered day with a temperature of 12° F. and all-day snow on the forecast. It’s a good thing snow is beautiful, and ever so paintable. Here are three snow scenes from American masters.

Charles Salis Kaelin was one of the earliest American exponents of Divisionism (or Chromoluminarism). This is the style invented by Georges Suerat, where colors are separated into individual dots or patches which interact optically.

 Kaelin was a respected member of the art colony at Rockport, Massachusetts. 

Snow scene by Emile Albert Gruppé . He painted many variations on this theme—mountains, stream, snow.

Emile Albert Gruppé was born in Rochester, NY, but spent his formative years in the Netherlands. He was the son of painter Charles P. Gruppé. The family returned permanently to the United States in 1913 as the political situation in Europe deteriorated. Gruppé was one of the most famous of the Cape Ann painters, establishing himself in Gloucester, MA.

Winter Rocky Landscape, William Partridge Burpee. There's a hint of Spring in there.

William Partridge Burpee was born in Rockland, ME. He studied with marine painter William Bradford in the late 1870s and began painting in the luminist marine style of Fitz Hugh Lane. He began showing in Boston in the 1880s but did not take up pastel until after a Grand Tour to Europe in 1897, where he became more familiar with impressionism. In 1914, he returned to his birthplace, where he died in 1940.

Let me know if you’re interested in painting with me in Maine in 2014 or Rochester at any time. Click here for more information on my Maine workshops!