Daffodils

With spring's arrival the daffodils begin to
bloom.  Cheerful visitors that are so welcome.   They come in many varieties.  There are fragrant ones, trumpet,  butterfly, miniature, small and large cup.   Some are yellow, white and even pink.   They wear such interesting names...
Spellbinder, Pheasant's Eye, Mt Hood.

A favorite past time of mine is gathering them to bring indoors to sketch.    A side view gives you a glimpse of their frilly centers.   My sketchbooks hold pages of these lovely harbingers of the season.

They are very easy to grow.  Not the least bit fussy.   Even the fancier ones seem to thrive in almost any situation.

 

 

 Over the years my beds have become rather crowded with different species.   It seems when the catalogs arrive in August my head says "no more".  My heart says "these would look lovely somewhere in the garden."   The heart wins.  When spring comes I am glad it did! 

Thank you for taking some time to visit.   Hope you enjoyed the daffodil tour .   Come back soon.

Signs

We found some precious signs of spring today. 

They came slowly this year.   Nonetheless they have started to arrive.

 

There was even a blossom or two to sniff.

 

 A beautiful blue sky was so nice to see.  The honking geese could be heard overhead.    The peepers were even letting us know they were awake.   When they start to sing I know spring has finally come.  

 

The woods look sparse now.   Soon it will burst with new life.

 

Thank you for stopping by.   I loved sharing some signs of spring with you.   Hope you are seeing some too!

Waiting

I am waiting.   Spring was to arrive today.   It is late.

Perhaps it will come after the snow showers and the cold winds say their final goodbye.

The pussy willows whisper it is time.

The geese overhead honk as if it is here. 

The Vernol Equinox promised today was the day!

WIP

   

The boys are so ready... 

and so am I.

Thanks for visiting.   You certainly make the wait more pleasant.

God Bless!   

Happenings

 Winter may be giving us it's final dance but Mom gave me some spring today.          

                                 

These lovely pink hydrangeas were a "just because I love you" gift.  Something to chase away the last of winter's chill.  May have to get my brushes out and paint a few of the blossoms.


Shelby our new baby is doing well.  Growing like a bad weed.

We are working every day with the lead.

 

Hubby took some quick shots of us stepping out.

 Not a lot of time in the studio but did manage this quick sketch .

 

Used a bit of pen an ink, watercolor and watercolor pencil on stonehenge.   I like this paper.  It takes watercolor washes...has a nice texture for colored pencil, graphite and pen and ink.

 

Well that's all my happenings.    Hope yours are good.   Stop back soon.

God Bless!   

Visitors

Look what paid a visit this week.  They came to tell that spring is near.   Their small petals brought joy and promise that warmer days are coming. 

 

Flowers seem like God's love notes.  They always speak to the heart.

 

Seeing these beauties blooming got my brushes moving. 

 

     

 I tried two different techniques on this blossom.   The one on the left was drawn over a wet into wet under painting.   The right one I drew the flower first and then painted it.

Both were fun to do but my preference was the first.   

 

Janet Whittle's "Watercolor Flowers" and "Painting Flowers and Plants"   have some wonderful exercises to try.    One of those was dropping color into a wet wash and letting the colors mingle and then drawing the composition after everything is dry.

 

There are so many ways to capture the loveliness of a flower.  Like each of us every plant has its own personality.  Isn't it great that there is such diversity?

 

So glad you stopped to visit.    Have a blessed day.

   

First Day of Spring

Whew! Spring is officially here.  With this nice warm weather we are having I am feeling like I am dreadfully behind.  Cleaning, yard work and gardening have me scrambling to and fro. (I think a bit more fro than to .)  Generally March in the Midwest means some nice days and some cold rainy ones.  Not this year...it feels like late May. 

I am loving it though!

Blue Squill

At the beginning of 2012 I set myself some creative goals for the coming year.   One of these was to sketch a different flower that was blooming in the garden each week.  Blue squill was my first drawing of the spring season.   Daffodils, forsythia, chinadoxa, and peach tree blossoms are in bloom now. Looks like I will have a choice.   Keep you posted on this creative endeavor.

If I do not set small challenges for myself I might let the season pass without "seeing" the sweet blessings of this life.  I think in fact that when we stop and "see"  the ordinary things we partake in the extraordinary!

Seeds of Faith

This evening I worked outdoors planting larkspur, iceland poppies and some radishes.   Indoors I started a few tomatoes and peppers.  Then for "my soul" I sowed a few shasta daisies, foxglove and coneflowers.  I like to think as I put the seeds into the dirt I am sowing seeds of faith.  

My wish is that all of you be blessed with time to savor the "sweet things" and sow a bit of faith .   Let me know how it grows!