My personal aesthetic is broad, with many different facets– some of which I have expressed in previous projects and blog posts. One facet of my aesthetic is built off of my experience living in Colorado, and being around a wide variety of landscapes and nature. I am also very inspired by the sky, clouds, and sunsets/sunrises. For me, these can be combined and represented by the term alpenglow, defined by Oxford languages as “the rosy light of the setting or rising sun seen on high mountain.”
Image 1 (featured image), Image 2, Image 3, Image 4
This part of my aesthetic is represented in two parts. The first part is a warm glow of a sunrise or sunset, that pairs pinks, oranges, reds, and purples against a bright blue background. Textures such as water, clouds, and snow, catch the light and are painted with bright hues. Landscapes that are ordinarily white are lit with color, and contrast beautifully with their ordinary appearance, and also with the background of sky or water behind them.
The second part of my aesthetic that is represented in “alpenglow” is the mountains. I have skied and snowboarded from a very young age, and as such, it has become a huge part of my personal aesthetic. I am inspired by craggy mountains blanketed with snow, fluffy flurries falling from the clouds, frost white trees, and the deep blues of dusk lit by warm orange lights of a village town. All of these have cozy, nostalgic memories for me, and make me feel like I am in a warm spot on a cold day.
Overall, I think that this aesthetic is more inspired by my personal experiences, rather than any specific design movements. It represents things that I love about my life, and want to continue. I’m not sure if I will incorporate this into my final project, or use a different facet of my personal aesthetic, but I wanted to talk about the “alpenglow” style because it is important to me.
Something that I had considered making that is more representative of this aesthetic is a “topographical map” of sorts. I have made something similar for a project before, but it was in the early stages, and could be perfected now. I found a topographical map of the Matterhorn online, then laser cut each section out of a piece of wood. I also cut a guiding hole out of each piece so that they would all have the correct orientation, and I could use a pin to keep them clocked and in place.
(Personal photos)
On the left is the sculpture halved, and on the right is the full piece (with a cardboard prototype in the background). I think that I could make this piece quite cool if I were to redo it, and I would be able to fix some of the mistakes that I made the last time, and make a bigger, better product. However, I’m still considering many options, and I haven’t settled on anything yet.
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Hi Jillian,
What first caught my attention was the word “Alpenglow” I clicked on your post because I simply did not know what it was. I never knew the pink sunsets we all know actually was an aesthetic but after reading your post it makes a lot of sense. I think your project idea is super creative and I am wondering how you plan to add the color from the aesthetic if you end up deciding to add it to your project.
Hey Alex! I’m so glad that alpenglow caught your eye– the exact same thing happened to me and I’ve been obsessed with the concept since. Thanks so much for your feedback! I’m definitely still figuring out how to implement the pink glow– I deeply want to, but am having a hard time figuring it out. Definitely let me know if you have any suggestions :)!
Hello Jillian, I enjoyed reading your post. I’ve never actually heard the term “alpenglow” before, and it’s one that I think is very descriptive of an aesthetic that I also like. Image 4 (the snowy mountain one) is actually one of my wallpapers! Mountains have always been a big part of my life and I have a pretty hard time imagining my life without them. Also, that sounds like a pretty cool project idea. If you decide on going with it, would you want to do the same mountain or something else?
Thanks Daedalus!
I’m glad that you also like this aesthetic, I think its so gorgeous (and also a relatable aesthetic for a lot of Coloradans)! I was planning for my final project to use Copper Mountain, since its one of my favorite ski resorts! I’ve skied on it a lot, and it was the mountain that I learned on, so it holds a lot of meaning for me :). Thanks so much for the feedback!