According to my calendar spring came on March 20th and here it is April 17th and you surely wouldn’t know!  Spring, where are you?  Temperatures are low; low enough for snow flurries to spin and wander to the ground.  Spring, where are you?  As I gazed out my kitchen window this morning with coffee in hand the skies were gray without a hint of sun in sight and the air was wet and cold (still is).  What’s more I was forced to order another oil delivery for today (ugh).

I suppose on a brighter note, the snow won’t amount to much if anything and eventually spring will arrive and all of spring’s hopeful transformation will erase these winter memories.   I wait impatiently for spring with its distinctive smell.  I’m also waiting for my gardens to come to life and with my daffodils and crocus are poking through the ground in spite of the cold temps … it is exciting.  Of course, I will miss having those beautiful winter landscapes to inspire paintings like “Shunpike Road” above but I’m ready to ditch the winter grays and plunge into the wildly vivid colors that painting floral bouquets allows.

I admit that I’m not the greatest at painting flowers but after a friend of mine encouraged me to use a wet-on-wet approach a door was opened and a certain freedom stepped in.  For the longest time after that initial introduction I could be found splashing color with bold strokes and great abandon.  Truly I became a wet-on-wet addict. I tried this wet-on-wet-splashing technique using watercolor and acrylics and I enjoy both equally.  It all is just plain fun and that is what being creative should feel like.  Whether painting winter with all its rich grays, purples and blues or flowers in their riot of pink, yellow, orange, etc., … it all should be a blast… an escape… and childlike fun.  So get ready… springtime inspiration is pushing its way through the earth and toward the sun and soon we’ll be reveling in all this inspirational newness.