Frozen door to dawn

Frost inside windows is often a thing of the past in houses that are so well heated and sealed these days.  But there are some windows that still have coverings of frost patterns from time to time, including my back porch door and windows in the barn.

I wanted to experiment a bit more with ice crystals and watercolour, but in a more structured way instead of abstract forms. A bit of quick planning was needed as the weather this year has been above freezing for quite awhile, with just a couple of early mornings or late nights that have been cold enough to freeze anything.  I had an image of an old door, very similar to a door in the barn with windows held in with aging putty (remember putty?) years of dirt and a bit of luck.  I chose this as the starting point for my image.

The night before I sketched out the door on 300lb watercolour paper and waited for the cold dawn.  I wetted the paper and added pigment to represent the trees and the rising sun peeking through them as I've seen so many times.  I then put the paper outside to freeze, hoping the flurries wouldn't change the effect I was after, it wouldn't blow away or someone/something would take it.

Note the elegant technology of in my method of freezing a watercolour.  Upturned turkey roaster and a bag of dried marrowfat peas to weight the paper.

I have mysterious painting thief you see.  I put two small pieces outside the back door the other night.  There was no wind, no one around, but the deep dark woods.  I weighted the pieces with stones. When I came back 30 minutes later, one was missing, stones and all, the other was still there.  Is there a marauding squirrel who likes art?  A discerning fox?  Tripod??   Wherever it went, I don't know.


However, despite challenges with wind and weather and art thieves, I continued on and the freeze was successful with lovely ice patterns appearing on the 'windows' just as they would in real life.

 

Once it was dried, I continued to build the watercolour of the old door and lock around the frozen paintings that would become the windows.

I'm calling this piece done for now as I could fiddle with it forever, trying to distress it further until I really do distress it!  The paper even though heavy is curled slightly so the image is a bit distorted.  I will take a better image and in day light once the paper has flattened.  It measures about 12 x 15 inches.