Art Notes

Few words bring more excitement to a child’s heart than a parent’s morning announcement of a “snow day.” School has been canceled, and there is nothing to do but sled down hills, build snowmen and pummel your siblings in a snowball fight. For children, it is a day of unbridled joy. For parents, however, it can be trying. Work still needs to be attended to while kids slog in and out of the house, changing clothes, wanting hot chocolate, and generally creating confusion.

In my work, Snow Day, we find that this tradition of family dynamic spreads even to the animal kingdom. A bear cub looks back at his mother, wondering if he can find a playmate to enjoy the frosty day. The mother looks down with loving patience, knowing that there still is foraging to be done before the two might enjoy a winter’s hibernation. As all families do, a compromise will be met between play and the practical, so both mother and child will realize the fruits of their snow day together. I hope you find some nostalgia in this snapshot in the life of a family, and, as always, I want to thank you for sharing my adventures in art.

Key Points

• Snow Day is part of Zac Kinkade’s Animal Accents collection, a series that captures playful and sometimes whimsical moments from the Great Outdoors.
• Did you know that when bears hibernate for the winter, they do not sleep with the whole time? Although they do not eat or drink, they will slightly wake up during their hibernation to move around in their den.
• Bears usually begin preparing to hibernate in November, eating and drinking as much as possible before their months-long rest.
• Newborn bear cubs cannot eat or walk around on their own until they are at least six months old. The little fellow in Zac’s Snow Day is old enough to scamper about on his own, but still loves to be with his mama.