Hopeful signs of Spring

I pulled this illustration over from my Moleskine blog because it seemed fitting for the day. I finally see hundreds of these little guys trying to pop up in the yard. It takes real finesse not to step on any of them because they're everywhere!

So, while I'm trying to come up with an illustration for this week's "IF", I'll post this cheerful piece for now!

I have had many requests to do a new "bag lady." Stay tuned, you never know!

Happy almost Spring!

Animal Wednesday: Nesting

I went looking through my archives to see if I had an appropriate image to use for today.

I did this painting five years ago when I rented a musty old room in someone's house as my first studio. I wanted to paint a nest, but then I thought about a little sparrow bringing an 'offering' to my painting because he thought the nest was real! Talk about self-flattery!

Anyway, five years later I see a lot wrong with the painting. Still, someone in Southern California is enjoying it as part of their bird art collection.

Apologies to those of you who may have already seen this. I haven't had a whole lot of time to do new stuff lately. I'm working on changing that though ;)

Happy Animal and nesting Wednesday!

Animal Wednesday : Nesting

This is a painting I did a couple of years ago in my very first studio. It was a musty old place with too many spiders in the back of someone's home. But it was my space and I came to love it. One spring I watched a little sparrow carry pieces of straw and other things to help build his nest. I was doing a lot of trompe l'oeil in those days, so I thought how wonderful it would be to paint a bird making an offering to a painted nest because he thought it was real! This is how it turned out. That's also the brush and paint cloth I used that I added to the picture. One of my husband's co-workers bought it for his wife who collects bird paintings. I kind of miss this one because it was a little personal, but it sure makes me happy to share my art. Happy Animal Wednesday...and yay spring!!

IF: Spring Green

I love the newness and promises of hope that spring holds. The air comes alive with bird song and the smell of the first cut grass. The bulbs bloom and buds on the trees burst open as if overnight after waiting through winter. The birds start building their nests with care and anticipation of a new brood. What was bleakness all around us not so long ago is now green with new life, new energy. No wonder so many of us feel alive during this season of renewal!

Happy spring everyone!

(For some reason this thumbnail wouldn't upload on IF. After a zillion trys, I just uploaded a bunch of stems from my vase of orchids. Hey...it got you here!)

acrylic on canvas...click to enlarge