The Night Before Christmas is perhaps the most famous of all festive verses. Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) wrote the poem, also called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, in 1822. It’s now a tradition in many families to read the poem on Christmas Eve. It still evokes a tremendous amount imagery for me and I couldn’t help but repeat it’s verses whilst painting this illuminated High Street scene. I’ve painted quite a few snow pictures of the city now and it’s always a great deal of fun using my artistic licence to add those over-the-top Christmas touches!
So this is my tribute to Winchester, which every year has an incredible festive glow. We haven’t been able to soak up the atmosphere in the usual way this December. But we will hope for the opportunity to savour it in full next year. My version of ‘The Night Before Christmas, Winchester’ was painted with acrylic and ink on 28 x 38 cm paper.
Despite the anxiety and worry over the pandemic, it’s something rather special to be able to share the spirit of the season with my kids… to see them get excited by our growing collection of Christmas stories. Here are the words from that most famous poem, in case you also need that little extra festive feeling this year!
