First Snow of the Year

First Snow of the Year is a serene studio impressionistic painting that captures the quiet magic of the first light snowfall that year on Don Yaun’s 11½-acre wooded homestead in Buford, Georgia. This expansive 36″ × 24″ work, created in 2022 from a personal photograph from his front yard, shows the fresh snow delicately dusting the pathway that winds toward the back corner of the property. The scene is framed by the forest of hardwoods—oaks, hickories, poplars, maples, cherries, and beeches—many still clinging to their leaves. The thicker, lighter-toned beech tree on the left is Don’s favorite beech tree (featured in another painting in the Homestead Series), adding a personal anchor amid the reds, purples, oranges, and blues of the distant woods. A cold, wind-swept blue sky provides crisp atmosphere, while subtle color shifts in the snow and trees reward a close study.