The Frost King

(another art assignment, one color with a wet wash, difficult in every sense of the word)

I don't know why, but for some odd reason I have been fascinated with Jack Frost for as long as I can remember.

What do you think of when you think of winter? Christmas, right? And snow ball fights, and sledding, and snowmen, maybe ice skating, presents, break from school because of a snow storm, warm fires, cocoa and cookies or maybe even red berries covered in frost? In our fantasy, who do we attribute all these nice, good, happy things to? Father Christmas, of course. But what about Jack Frost? Where does he fit into all this? My mom said, as a child, she always thought of him as a happy artist who went around painting on the windows. She said she would look at the frost on her window and study the beautiful patterns made by the frost. What a lovely thought – but… oh I don’t know, what if he’s not happy? What if he is clawing at the window, begging to come in and share the warmth, the joy, and the happiness of Christmas? Am I being morbid? I don’t mean to be. I’ve just never been able to exactly figure out what I believe about Jack Frost. To me he has always been a character of very mixed emotions. Perhaps not all unhappy, but not all happy either – rather mixed up, intense emotions, and sort of bipolar, for he stands for all the parts of winter that are left over by Santa Claus, the bitter cold, the biting wind, the frost that kills the plants and even sometimes animals. There is decidedly a hint of cruelty to winter, of cold, lonely sadness, but also of beauty, enrichment, and undiscovered fun… I think he has radical mood swings, sometimes he’s very happy and joyful, sometimes he gets angry and cruel, sometimes sad, lonely, almost lost… he is certainly not tame, not tame in the least. Sort of just an artist with major issues (but then, don’t all artists have issues?) who’s struggling toward happiness and against his strong, wild emotions.

Sigh… I hope I’m making at least a little sense. Anyway, enjoy the painting.

Feel free to tell me any ideas you have ever had about Jack Frost!