Study for Head of Passagassawaukeg 1992

Neil Welliver made this study for Head of Passagassawaukeg. It's got this cool palette of whites, grays, greens, and browns. I can imagine him outside in the snow, brush in hand, trying to capture the way light hits the snowy banks of the river... It's a real commitment to being present, right? I picture him studying the texture of the snow, the way it clings to the rocks and logs, and how the water snakes through. The paint looks pretty thick in places. I can almost feel the chill in the air. The way he renders the evergreens on the right with these distinct, almost chunky strokes? It's like he's not just painting a tree, but really trying to grasp its essence, its presence in the landscape. Welliver was into painting large-scale landscapes, right? This feels like a smaller, more intimate moment, but you can still feel that same sense of immersion in the natural world. Artists are in a constant conversation, building on each other's work and ideas, trying to push the boundaries of what painting can be!