Spring Fling

There is a day every spring when the world comes to life. On the first warm sunny day people emerge from their houses and remember that they are social creatures. We say hello to our neighbors and wave to fellow gardeners. I love this day.


But because it is early spring the shadows are still deep and cold. Clouds are lurking and evening comes early making the few sunny moments more exciting and urgent.




This painting is four feet wide and is oil on canvas.

Surprises

The birds start singing at 3:30 in the morning these days and wake me up. With a pillow over my head I managed to sleep until 5 this morning and then got up. I think I went outside to look for the cat but soon found myself digging weeds out of the garden in my pajamas and slippers. Somewhere in the jungle of lemon balm seedlings I found this gorgeous flower. It is three feet tall and seems to be an Allium nectaroscordum siculum. How did it get into my garden? Sometimes it is nice to have an appalling memory when it means nice surprises like this. I can also re-read murder mysteries with no danger of knowing who done it.

Tofino Part Two - The Plants

Tofino, on Vancouver Island, is part beach paradise and part temperate rain forest. These trees were on the ocean edge at the Botanical Garden. Everything there is so damp that soil was forming in the branches high above the ground.


This hippy van looks like it will soon rot into soil too.


The Botanical Garden is home to many sculpture installations.


The trail down to Tonquin Beach was beautiful.


Apparently our most exciting plant find was this Vancouver groundcone which grows as a parasite on the roots of Salal.


This tiny flower looked like a small violet. Mum can you remind me what it was? Or anyone?


Wild strawberries were growing in the rocks on the beach.


I can't remember what these little wild aster type flowers were. Anyone?

My mum says:
The flower that looks like a violet is Pinguicula vulgaris and is
called common butterwort although it's not really very common. It can
survive on almost bare rock by 'eating' insects that stick to its
leaves.

The small aster-like flower is, I think, Erigeron peregrinus, the
subalpine daisy, and can also survive on a thin diet.

Thanks Mum!

Animals of the Pacific Coast

I just got back from a trip to Tofino on Vancouver Island. There are dramatic mountains, sandy beaches, crashing waves, and misty, cool, drippy constant moisture there making a happy home for so many plants and animals. Here we are rescuing a butterfly that had fallen into a rain puddle. It was flapping its wings by the time we left but probably didn't benefit from its swim.


And here my mother tries to rescue some tree frog tadpoles from a fresh water puddle that looked like it was drying up. We shouldn't have worried. It rained soon afterward. And rained again and again after that.


This little baby bear was beside the road.


On the beach there were orange and purple starfish


and emerald green sea anemones waiting for the tide to come in.


This sea star was huge.


And the biggest barnacles I have ever seen.


My favorite west coast beach animals - my mum and dad.

Baby Peaches

I planted a peach tree last year because I wanted some height in the garden. I never thought it would actually produce peaches. I come from a cold climate and this is so exciting to me. Aren't they cute?

Striped Tulips

A couple of months ago I made some paintings of crazy mice recklessly having adventures in magnolia trees. I was longing for adventures myself and so I made sure that I left the house more than usual and ventured out into the world. Spring is a time for breaking the cosy routines that we develop through the winter months. I have been having such fun that I haven't been blogging much, and even my painting seems to have stalled. The tulips I started to paint a month ago have almost finished flowering now! I'll have to work from photos. These are a couple of details of my still unfinished painting about springtime joi de vivre. It is four feet wide.




One of my adventures was a trip to Manhattan to meet up with some friends and see museums. I even accidentally timed the visit during the Whitney Biennial which was an adventure into conceptual and performance art. Easier to enjoy was this marvelous roller-printed wallpaper at the Metropolitan Museum. It is by Viennese artist Dagobert Peche and dates from 1921. He called it 'Summer", but I associate tulips with the craziness of spring.

Tulip Mania

I am taking pictures today for a painting of tulips. The garden is full of color!

Funny or Awful

From the pet shop. Snakes are pretty but I wish all animals were herbivores.

Can't Stop Playing with Photoshop

More colors! This is far too much fun.

Fabric Fun

I got side tracked today and haven't been to the studio at all. I've been playing with my painting "Reckless" in Photoshop and wondering about turning it into a fabric design. Oh my! It is so addictive. I have to force myself to stop before the day disappears completely. Maybe I will let myself try some other color ways tomorrow.


And if I really want to spend a lot of time I will fix the repeats so that the blossoms match up. So much fun!

Punctuation Cat

This little oil sketch of Huckleberry makes me think of punctuation. Is it the dot on a question mark? Maybe it is the dot on an exclamation point! Or simply a statement of how comfy it is to be a sleeping cat. I guess it changes with my own moods.


It can also be hung in various ways. I keep flipping it over depending on if my day feels upside down or right way up. An adaptable little painting.

It measures 6"x6" and is oil on panel.

After the Opening

The show is hung. The opening was frightening for a shy person like me but so many kind friends showed up that I felt greatly supported. And now I get to keep this beautiful flower arrangement that my mum made for the opening. Parrot tulips and bleeding heart from the garden and white ranunculus from the grocery store. The sun is even peeking out from the storm clouds. Life feels pretty good today. Thank you to all my lovely friends who came and shared the love last night. La vie est belle.

(Can anyone spot Opal in this picture? Crazy cat has to be in every photo)

Show

I have a show of my new work at Fuel Coffee in Montlake in Seattle. There will be a little opening reception on Wednesday evening from 6-8 pm and you are invited! Why not stop by and say hello.

Fuel Coffee
2300 24 ave E Seattle
6-8pm
Wed 7 April

map

The show will run through the month of April and then move to Fuel on Capitol Hill.

Here are the paintings that will be there.

The Visit

Imagine that you are the size of a mouse and you find yourself looking at the magnolia blossom. Wouldn't it fill you with awe? Do we feel the same thing when we see a magnolia blossom...or a whole tree with hundreds of them?
This painting is 6"x8" so the mouse and blossom are life sized.


I have also finished this painting which I started a few weeks ago. I am calling it "Renaissance" since all the plants erupting from the ground are bulbs being reborn. It is a bit disturbing, as change always is.


This gorgeous thing is a lily bulb. Last year I forgot where I planted it and stepped on it, preventing it from looking this wonderful or from flowering later in the summer. I don't care if it flowers this year. It has already made me happy.


My original posts about this painting are hereand here
The lyrics of a Dar Williams song 'Spring Street' remind me of this painting.
I'll push myself up through the dirt
And shake my petals free
I'm resolved to being born
And so resigned to bravery