April Showers

Winter came early and stayed late.
It's time for it to move on.
Let spring have its moment.

There are a few signs of spring around here - the hares have turned brown, the tulips are poking leaves up, the rhubarb has tiny orange nubbins, and I have heard the robins singing.

But I can't wait any longer. I need color and flowers and so I resorted to purchasing them. These Gerbera daisies begged me to take them home and paint them.  They provided some welcome cheeriness.

Tomorrow the temperature will drop and we will have snow flurries - if we're lucky it will be rain.

I will try to keep the memory of these vibrant flowers in my heart until the sun decides to shine again.

Ink and watercolor in the HandBook sketchbook.

Bird on a wire

We are readers at my house.  We have lots of books, and therefore we have lots of bookmarks. Many of our bookmarks have shown up on this blog before. This is one of the newer ones that my beloved brought home this week.  These bookmarks are 3D, and can look a  little freaky if you move your head too fast.  But they really do have a nice 3D effect.  We have one of a snarling black panther, a group of brightly colored geckos (my favourite), a tabby cat with white paws on a fencepost, roly poly panda bears, and these cheerful budgies on woven ropes. I loved that odd one hanging upside down as if eavesdropping on the gossip. There are actually six of them on the bookmark, but I couldn't fit them all on the page. They were a lot of fun to draw.
I used inktense pencils and watercolor in the handbook sketch book.  I like this sketch book, but it does not take a wash very well.  It buckles and pools and streaks.  But I really like the texture of the paper.

A Day in the Life of a Tulip

Aah spring.  The weather has been warm, the sun is shining, the snow has all melted.  The huge piles of ice and gravel by the side of the roads and in the parking lots have diminished measurably.  It's enough to make you believe in spring again.
I took a bouquet of spring flowers to my family dinner at Easter.  The buds were tightly closed, but we put it in water and a vase. There in a room filled with warmth and love and laughter, the buds opened up and filled the room with color and fragrance.  I think that's an apt metaphor for families.  My workplace is facing massive budget cuts and layoffs and it's all been very tense  and worrisome.  But at Easter, in that room filled with warmth and love and laughter, I could feel my soul, so tightly closed against loss and worry, opening up again.  I could feel myself becoming myself again.  Yes, that's what's important, and that's what will see me through the tough times.
I used a lot of water on this page and it wrinkled and crinkled - hence the wonky photo.
Watercolor and Inktense pencils in HandBook sketchbook.