Michelle Cote Fontaine Fine Art

During major snowstorms, Boston makes drivers remove all vehicles from the street and they are not allowed to drive.  This creates a magical time for Bostonians when they can casually walk the streets, enjoying all that the city and mother nature offers.  This particular scene comes from a photograph taken by my daughter who was exploring the city with her roommates after a winter snow storm in 2013.  If you are familiar with Boston, you will know that many streets are lined with brownstone buildings, lots of trees and old fashioned street lamps.  For me, this painting brings up an image of how Boston would have looked in the early 1900s.  In this picture I tried to create a more intense scene by using a limited color pallet, using only white, black and brown.  I also wanted to create a more impressionistic sense of the street, with a few items in the forefront being more clearly visible.  The limited color pallet and impressionistic strokes created a soft, warm tone that comes alive on snowy days.  The one thing in the reference that I did think about omitting was the bike, but my husband and I ride a tandem bike so I have been keeping them in my paintings whenever possible.