"Winter Blues," a 1969 watercolor on paper by English-Canadian artist Robert Newton Hurley, spans 12 x 15 inches and is safely ensconced behind museum glass. Hurley's signature and the creation date are found on the bottom of this serene landscape.

The painting exudes a gentle calmness, featuring an expansive snow-covered prairie bisected by the converging lines of a railroad. The tracks lead the viewer's eye toward the horizon, where sparse, low-lying buildings and grain elevators punctuate the flat landscape. Hurley's use of a predominantly cool palette reflects the work's title, with soft blues and whites that convey the chill of a winter day and the stark beauty of the season.

The sky is a vast expanse of pale blue, scattered with wispy clouds that seem to echo the snow's undisturbed surface below. Hurley's technique captures the distinct clarity of light found in winter, with subtle shadows adding depth and dimension to the snow.

There's a stillness to this scene, a quiet moment captured in time where the land and sky seem to stand in a silent truce. "Winter Blues" is a testament to the subtle grandeur of the Canadian winter, reflecting Hurley's ability to find and portray beauty in the everyday landscape. This watercolor invites reflection on the serene and often overlooked moments of peace that the cold season can bring.