Blooming Flowers

It’s Spring and the flowers on our balcony and the nearby park are blooming. Luckily I’m not allergic as I love going outdoors to plein air paint so I can get as close to nature in a big city possible. I didn’t go out every day in April as planned since packing a “mochilo”backpack with my brushes and tools as well as searching out spots, takes time. I often split my painting between time in the studio, using reference photos with painting outdoors to fully capture the feel of the season. Lately, I’ve noticed the challenge of working with the thickness of gouache paint vs watercolor paint and am playing with brush strokes and the addition of pencil, pen, and oil pastels. When I get frustrated and overly cautious I say “What the heck?” and change it up with painting over a painting, or using bold pencil marks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but it always feels better when I let go of worry and needless caution and jump in the water or make bold moves. And at my age, I’ve realized that the process is as important as the product. Too old to dream of edging my way slowly into years of an art “career”or harboring wishfull thinking or excuses, I continually remind myself to make bold moves. And I have to find joy in each day’s endeavor. We all learn from creating. This spring I’m learning that we can break open like the blossoms that burst forth each Spring each time we take a leap of faith or make a bold paint stroke.