Charles E. Burchfield, , Vol. 46, February 3, 1945

The recurrent blizzard and storms of this winter have fired me with the impulse to paint a blizzard. As the starting point or plan for this, I am using the 1918 “Blizzard” (two ghostly windblown houses about to be engulfed by a white monster of a cloud) which I have enlarged from 18 x 27 to 36 x 54.
All day Thursday I made many excursions into the storm making notes and experiencing sensations as material. Between trips I sketched my ideas on the picture in charcoal. South on Union road —the snow sifting over the tops of the snow piles completely obscures the road. At west end of Gardenville —standing in the lee of the huge piles of snow, back to the wind. The effect was magnificent in an almost terrifying way. The wind filled the Zenith with a high-pitched deafening roar; the fine snow cut like a sandblast. I could not stand it for more than a minute or two.
Charles E. Burchfield, February 3, 1945