Red Scarfed
Snowman

About the Painting

The snowman stands on a rise of snow in the center of the painting, built from two round shapes, with stick arms raised as though in greeting. His black top hat carries a red band trimmed with a sprig of holly, and his scarf of red and white stripes trails out to one side in the wind.

Behind him, a forest of pines and slender trees moves from deep green at the left to bright yellow green at the right, painted in soft upright strokes. The sky is a pale wash of blue, gray and lavender, and a few small birds fly at the upper right. At the lower left, a small bare tree holds bright red berries and a single red ornament.

Donna shapes the snowman with cool shadows of blue and lavender along his lower side, so the white of the paper reads as sunlit snow. His face is drawn with a few simple marks: two dark eyes, an orange carrot nose and a curving row of dots for a smile. Three black buttons run down his front. The whole scene is lit by a soft winter light, and the gentle colors of the sky and the far trees keep the snowman at the center of attention. The snow on the ground falls away in long soft drifts, with blue shadows that follow the curve of the hill.

The painting belongs to The Winter Room, and of the four winter scenes it is the most playful, a snowman in a red scarf. The red of the scarf, the hat band and the berries ties the picture together, three small notes of the same color placed across the sheet. Donna signs her name at the lower right in blue, in the open snow. It is a painting that brings a smile to the room.