In December we spent the holidays with my family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Going back east for Christmas is always tricky weather wise. At the same time, it is always a blessing when we experience a little snow.

My older brother J.R. walking in the neighborhood I grew up in.

These pictures were taken a couple years ago. Although I am not aching to live in snow country again, I am still charmed by snow’s power to re-invent the world.

And that makes me think about artist Robert Ryman, and the simple pleasure of white.

*Robert Ryman, Untitled, 1958, oil on canvas, 43” x 43” Image courtesy of collection of SFMOMA*

Ryman was asked once what is it that a painting communicates to the viewer. He replied:

“An experience of. . . enlightenment. An experience of delight and well- being, and rightness. It’s like listening to music. Like going to an opera and coming out of it and feeling somehow fulfilled—that what you experienced was extraordinary. It sustained you for a while.”