In Winter Chores, Peleg Franklin Brownell presents a quiet, workaday moment on a rural farmstead in winter. A weathered barn and lean-to stretch across the middle ground, their rough timbers and patched boards built up with thick, expressive brushstrokes. Snow lies unevenly across roofs, fences, and ground, broken by tracks, exposed earth, and scattered tools that suggest recent activity.

At the right, a small figure in a red coat bends to a practical task among animals gathered near the shelter, introducing a note of warmth and human purpose within the muted winter setting. Chickens peck at the snow-dusted ground, their movement enlivening the otherwise still scene. A bare tree rises behind the structures, its pale branches set against a soft, overcast sky.

Brownell’s handling is direct and tactile, with visible paint texture reinforcing the physicality of the place and the season. Rather than idealising rural life, the painting emphasises its rhythms and labour, capturing winter as a time of endurance, routine, and quiet persistence.