16.12.11

Feeling the Frost; Peter Doig.

White Creep, 1995-6

Walking back from the bus stop this evening I was bitten by the cold. My feet crunched on the frosty pavement and my ears started to ache. Since I was away in the sunshine for a fortnight, I missed the gradual "white creep" of winter coming on, and tonight it crawled into the folds of my coat and I felt its fangs.

The sublime scale of Peter Doig's painting perfectly presents the shock of the cold; it's snowing elsewhere this evening and feels like it could reach here very soon.

In White Creep, a vast snow-capped mountain juts upward in a way that dwarfs the sky. The snow is white and fresh, yet there is depth to it, implying that this mountain is permanently covered in snow. The snow is an abstract tapestry of white with craggy black rocks peeking through.

3 comments:

Nadine Flatt said...

thank you so much! you're so kind:)

Unknown said...

Wow that first paragraph you wrote about the cold... I love it. You are a talented writer!

Rachel Louisa. said...

Thank you so much - I love words, and greatly respect people who wield them well.