Oil painting. A lone cyclist stopped at a fork in a snow-covered rural road at winter solstice dusk. The rider stands unclipped, one foot on frozen ground, straddling a steel-framed winter bicycle with fenders and front light. Two empty roads diverge ahead into bare deciduous woods heavy with fresh snow. A frozen lake is visible through the trees on one side, reflecting the last gray light of the shortest day. Long blue shadows stretch across pristine snow that shows no tire tracks. In the far distance, a single farmhouse with one lit window. The cyclist’s breath is visible in the cold air. Muted winter palette: steel gray sky fading to deep blue, blue-white snow, black bare branches, traces of ochre leaves beneath the drifts. Painterly style reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth’s rural American realism crossed with Caspar David Friedrich’s romantic solitude. Contemplative, melancholy, solitary. The figure is small against the vast quiet landscape. Golden hour winter light at its most fleeting. No text.
Two Roads (after Robert Frost)
