Winter is not white, says Wendy DePaolis.

DePaolis is the curator of art and sculpture at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. And, sure enough, standing in the arboretum’s Reedy Gallery, DePaolis is surrounded by painted and woven winter scenes that burst with color, from the North Shore to rural Minnesota.

“The snow is a giant mirror,” DePaolis says. “It's just a reflection of all the other colors that might be passing through, so you're going to see a lot of pinks and oranges and reds and blues and greens and yellows.”

She adds, “These artists are magnificent at taking the time to really look and capture those colors.”

The artworks are part of “Winter Quietude,” an intimate exhibition featuring four Minnesota artists — Susan Solomon, Emily Wick, Neil Sherman and Ann Singsaas — through Jan. 25 at the Arboretum. 

Immersive winter worlds

The show features about 30 artworks that depict wintry Minnesota landscapes and nature, including snow fences under starlight, a minty moonrise at Black Beach on Lake Superior and the shimmering pastel of peeling birchbark. 

DePaolis says the artists have immersed themselves in these winter worlds to find their nuances.

“They've taken a lot of time to really help all of us quiet down,” DePaolis says. The hushed quiet and kaleidoscopic white of winter, on a walk around the arboretum or your neighborhood, is a reset for mind, body and soul, she says.

“If you can't get out into the actual elements, it's wonderful to have these artworks in your presence to just take you there.”

One example she points to is by Sherman, an artist based on the North Shore, who painted en plein air the neon green glow of the Northern Lights over a snow-encased cabin with a single light on. 

“What he did was he gave us this really quiet view of it,” DePaolis says. 

All of Sherman’s canvases tell the story of an artist who forged into nature and the elements to capture a moment.

“He does it as an athletic competition,” DePaolis says. “He is out there in his gear, in below-zero temperatures on Lake Superior, capturing the essence of ice crystals and ice flows and Northern Lights and snow as it’s falling.”

Artists find light in the darkness

While Sherman paints with an impressionistic realism, the night scenes of Solomon, a Twin Cities artist, have the air of abstracted nocturnal fairytales; their inky black skies punctuated by a star or a moon shining on bright colored fences jaggedly cutting through plains of snow flickering with color. 

In her artist statement, Solomon says her work is a search for light in dark spaces, honoring “nature in all its beauty and brutality, showing people’s very temporary footprint on it.”

A central theme for Solomon is the snow fence, which is often made from a bright orange or green vinyl.

“She wants to let you know that the fence is important,” DePaolis says. “When you have a snow fence, that means it's holding back potentially miles of snow to stop it from moving. That provides a lot of reflective properties for you as the viewer.”

For DePaolis, a lot of these paintings, like Singsaas’ peeling birches, are a reminder that winter is a time to slow down.

“We're so lucky here in Minnesota to get to have these amazing opportunities to embrace nature. It's not a dead, dormant time for our plants — it's a time that they need to rest,” she says. 

“I think that inspires all of us to do the same, which is so wonderful, right?” she adds. “When we actually take that time to listen to Mother Nature and follow the seasons. I think we all feel better for it.”

Step outside the Reedy Gallery to explore these winter landscapes, which highlight the color, light and stillness found across Minnesota’s cold season.

Winter at the Arboretum

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Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.