Springing forward

March. Spring and fresh beginnings. Trees are beginning to bud out ever so slightly as the warmth and sun returns, and on my neighborhood walk last night I spied some spring bulbs starting to stretch forth from their wintery slumber in neighboring flower beds. We’re not out of the woods yet, weather-wise, but we’re certainly not in the depths of gray, depressing winter, either, and there’s no denying that the wheel of the year keeps turning.

I feel a bit like the plants right now – starting to awaken from my wintering period. I find myself looking ahead at true spring, and even summer, and thinking about the things that need to be done, the “want to do” activities, and the like. I also find myself looking at “branches” of my life as though I’m a tree, and taking stock of which branches are healthy, which branches need supplemental help, and which branches are broken or diseased or dead and are ready to be shed to make room for new growth. There also might be some branches that are fine, for now, but will impede growth long-term and need to be pruned sooner rather than later.

It’s somewhat freeing thinking in this way and recognizing that at the end of it all we’re all just a bunch of organisms trying to live on a random rock in the universe, trees and humans and everything else in between. It’s also a great reminder that something ending isn’t the end because we’re constantly in periods of growth and rest and new branches will grow in maybe unexpected but joyful ways.

Things around here have been relatively quiet, which is mostly how I prefer it. I’ve picked up my paint brushes and acrylic paint for the first time since September, and this wee rabbit painting was the result. I picked up a book on daily painting by Carol Marine from the digital library for some inspiration, and I liked the concept of doing small paintings frequently rather than large ones.

I don’t know why I never thought of it and have, instead, let this pile of 6-8 canvases just sit here in my art corner taunting me. I cut some canvas paper down, though, and loaded up a quick reference photo from one of the million I have saved on Pinterest and just… played. I tried out different brushes and strokes, I mixed my own colors (not a single drop of black paint was used – I made those grays all my own mixing red, blue, and yellow!), and I layered. I made mistakes, of course, but that’s part of the learning process. And, more importantly, I had fun instead of approaching it as something that was going to be this big “masterpiece” and putting all this pressure on myself.

I don’t know that I’ll paint every day, at least for the spring, but perhaps when things slow down this summer after I do a little self pruning of those branches I’ll free up a space for a daily painting practice to grow.