Winter has been long and cold this year. We have had a record amount of snowfall, including a major blizzard that dumped 3 feet in 12 hours. I love the snow, the white blanket over the earth, the muffled quiet of it, the childlike wonder it inspires. I love the shapes that form in the landscape when they are modified by the lighter value of all those shades of white and gray. It feels right to have this time of cold, of slowing down, of hibernating, but even I am getting anxious for a bit of green grass now. The snow will eventually all melt away, leaving little rivers running through the streets, allowing the bulbs to push new plants up through the earth. Spring is a slow awakening here in New England, and I’m grateful for that. It gives me time to savor it.
With those first days of warm sun I get the renewed energy to get outside to paint. I’m planning a lot of plein air painting this year. I’ll be doing the Spring Sky Challenge, a daily painting challenge through the month of May. I invite other artists to do it with me, and this year I will be making my painting available each day! Then I have a plein air painting workshop in June, just a one day class here in Barrington. After that I plan to map out a few new places to explore and paint. I’ll keep you posted on where I might be headed. Maybe I’ll even put the word out to see if others would like to join up to paint! Maybe?
I find myself really leaning in to winter more and more each year. I’d like to think this is wisdom and not merely exhaustion, but I don’t really know. Maybe they are really closely related? As I move almost randomly between my studio and the rest of my home I find that my focus is still not amazing. I love painting, but I feel intimidated by my own ambitions at times. So I need to give myself a little pep talk to get me moving in the right direction, in faith and hope and not in fear. Isn’t this always the attempt?
I hope you are striving in your creative efforts, and acting in faith and not out of fear, as well. We can do this!
Best,
Erin
