Sunlit Winter Lanscape 1911

Pekka Halonen painted this Sunlit Winter Landscape with oils, and I love the way he really dove into the process, the *making* of it. The texture is delicious; it's like he sculpted the snow with paint. Look at the blues and violets he uses for the shadows, and how they curve across the field like frozen waves. It reminds me of making snow angels as a kid, that feeling of pressing your body into the cold. Then there are these little hints of warmth – yellows and oranges – that peek through, promising spring is not too far away. It's so interesting to see how the painting embodies the conversation between different colours. It reminds me a little of Van Gogh, actually, someone else who wasn’t afraid to push paint around and let the process be visible.