Waiting for spring

We had a little over an inch of snow last night.  The sight that greeted us this morning was so pretty.  Every branch and plant was covered.  Actually, it seems as if we haven’t had a heavy snow of several inches for a few years.  Even though winter has been relatively mild – so far, I am already sick of the season.  News exhaustion, tired of restrictions, worried about COVID.  Missing my family.

The past few weeks since the holiday crush, I have been concentrating on finishing up my Breaking Bread series of paintings.  These are middling to large, 24 x 30 paintings expressing my thoughts and observations of people eating together, or not as the case may be.  A few are humorous but most are thought-provoking. Scenes we see every day or used to at least.  But they are also mentally or emotionally draining. 

I decided to take a little respite this week and paint something lighter.  Think spring.  Back to some small watercolors with pen and ink, even colored pencil added. Some florals and landscapes.  Promises of things to come in a few months.

The first one that I tackled was Spring Daffodils.  This is a landscape of the naturalized daffodils in my yard.  Sometimes they come up as early as mid-February but usually they’re not out in full force until March and April.  It’s just such a peaceful scene with spring colors.

Another scene is of some of the purple irises out by the woodshed.  I know that I planted these shortly after we moved here many years ago but can’t remember the name.  It doesn’t really matter.  I have many varieties of irises from light purple to deep purple, peach and white, and some more that I’ve forgotten.  It’s always a pleasant surprise to see them explode in color in some out of the way place. 

I’ll take another week “off” to paint some of these spring scenes.  They have lightened my mood and inspired me during these dismal times.  Then I’ll get back to the more serious series.  I have four more paintings to complete before the big show in May and June. 

I hope you have some activity to inspire you during these difficult times, too.  Take care of yourselves.