New England Barn in Winter

Just up the road from where I live is this small farm. I took a walk at sunset a few days ago and loved this scene. You can't see very well in the digital image, but the sunset has cast the palest wash of pink on the snow. I love painting snow because, as it's white, it reflects all kinds of colors.
Here is a story for you about the reflective qualities of snow: Some years ago, I belonged to a group of painters called Plein Air Painters. When referring to painting, "Plein Air" means out in the open air, or painting on site. This group would all gather in a different spot throughout the painting season. That particular year we were painting farms and barns and we started the season early - one Saturday in March.
Well, it just so happened that there was about two feet of snow on the ground and the temperature was hovering just above freezing. This meant that I could bring my watercolors. If it had been colder, they would have frozen. (I know, having tried this). For the first painting of the day, a group of oil painters set up easels in front of the white farmhouse as it was a great scene to paint. I, on the other hand, decided to paint the painters standing in snow at their easels, so I set up to the side between them and the house and faced them. All was fine with this arrangement but for the fact that I had on my ski-wear to keep warm. My ski jacket was neon pink and the sun was out - bright, and thankfully warm. Yes, you got it: my jacket reflected pink all over the snow and the house as well.
When I took a break to walk around and see what the oil painters were doing, I found they all had pink in their paintings! They were good-naturedly complaining that I'd changed the whole color scheme. Such is the reflective nature of snow.

• The original painting has been sold, but you can check my website for currently available barn paintings. Thanks for stopping by!