The Winter Bed
This painting was created last month, when it already felt like deep winter. Autumn shifted toward winter very quickly this year as seemingly overnight, after weeks of balmy weather we were enveloped in cold. As always, I marveled at the adaptations that enable the animals who winter here to survive. Whitetail deer are among them, marvelously adapted to the cold. A deer’s undercoat has hollow fur shafts, which hold heat. They curl up in the snow to sleep, their bodies carving out a bowl that holds their body heat. I find this intriguing, that they use snow itself to keep warm.
If you snowshoe across an open field, you might come upon a winter deer bed, often halfway up a slope, so the deer can smell animal scent above and behind them, and see potential predators at a distance in front. How animals of prey manage to sleep at all is beyond my comprehension. A deer’s senses are incredibly keen, enabling them to constantly be aware of their surroundings.
The deer depicted here is an antlered doe – half mythical and half real. Whitetail does don’t normally grow antlers (unlike certain female antelopes and gazelles), but once in a while there’s a rare anomaly. This is why hunting licenses say “antlered” or “antlerless” deer rather than designating the sex. When a doe does grow antlers, they are not large or impressive racks like those of a buck, but rather modest, sometimes twisted, with just one or two tines on each side. Thus the antlered doe possesses a unique feminine power that is also endowed with masculine strength. Curled up in the snow that paradoxically keeps her warm, she is a symbol of inner completion and self-sufficiency.
As far as I know, I’ve never seen an antlered doe (they can easily be mistaken for a young buck), but I identify with them. All my life, self-sufficiency has been my blessing and my curse, my challenge and my growth, as I’ve taken on roles often played by men, or that just demand a high level of responsibility: head of household, homeowner, self-employed freelancer, author/illustrator, drum teacher, dance teacher, arts-in-ed teacher, nutrition writer, hunter. I even butcher my own deer. I have a lot of “yang” energy – that is, creative drive. All of this coexists with my receptive, relational, and nurturing “yin” energy as a woman and an artist. These dualities are among my favorite subjects to explore in art.
Like this she-deer, I try to use the circumstances around me to sustain myself. Though I don’t use snow to keep my body warm, I do use the isolation and long indoor hours of winter to warm my soul by working on art and writing. I try to let the winter landscape inspire me, imagining the bare and textured forests as fine etchings, hand-colored by our Creator. There’s beauty in these stark mountains, and in winter’s muted palette. Just as snow blankets the forest in pristine silence, winter brings a refreshing purity to the soul. All of this is the spiritual substance in which we make our beds and curl up through the long, dark winter.
This painting is a small study for a larger painting that followed soon after, in which the antlered doe is met by another mythical creature – to be shared within the coming weeks.
The Winter Bed is for sale. It’s painted in acrylics on canvas, and measures 10” square. Please inquire for more information if you’re interested.
Winter is upon us! A good week – and Happy Solstice – to all –
D. Yael Bernhard
https://dyaelbernhard.com
Have you seen my other Substack, The Art of Health? In addition to being a visual artist, I’m also a certified integrative health & nutrition coach with a lifelong passion for natural food cooking and herbal medicine. Now in its second year, this illustrated newsletter explores cutting-edge concepts of nutrition. I strive to make relevant information clear and accessible, and to anchor essential health concepts in unique images. Check it out, and if you like it, please subscribe and help spread the word. Your support keeps my work going!
I love this, and can't wait to see the larger piece it inspired.