"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” —Rachel Carson

The Source, 11" x 14", watercolor

I am twitching for spring. It's still pretty chilly here in Rockport, Massachusetts, but we're having just enough sun and just enough mild days to let you know that the shift has begun to inch it's way in. This time last year, I was painting in a plein air event in the Anza-Borrego Desert, which is the place that inspired this piece. I've been seeing artist friends who are there now for the event posting paintings on social media, and I confess it has triggered a tiny bit of "fomo" in me. (Like I don't have enough going on right now! Oy.) The first time I went there, there had been an unusually wet winter that triggered a super bloom, so the desert landscape was downright lush (relatively speaking), and there were rivulets of water running in the normally dry creek beds. Much of the desert flora is so short and scrubby, that it just looks like a greenish tint on the rocky landscape. Not unlike what we see here in New England or in the Midwest, when new spring growth first peeks up out of the ground in an open field. So, not a brand new painting for you today, just one that kinda feels good to look at.

Next week I am going to do the most counter-intuitive thing one could do whilst pining for spring - I am off to paint for a week in northern Vermont. I will be taking part in a loosely organized gathering of New England artists called the Jeffersonville Rendezvous, which been taking place each March for about the last 100 years. Yes, you read that right. One of the many things I love about living in this part of the country is the deep, rich history of artists living and working here, and the continuity and connection that still thrives today. Also, I made that stupid New Year's resolution to paint some snow this year... I think I'm about to check that box off in a big way!

Receding Snow, 10" x 10", watercolor

I have, in a number of my newsletters, shared with you videos of the fabulous classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma. A small shift today - we're going with Yo-Yo Man. Just thought we might be due for some silliness. A classic clip of the Smothers Brothers in concert with the Boston Pops, performing - you guessed it - "Yo-Yo Man"... Enjoy!

Spring Pools

by Robert Frost

These pools that, though in forests, still reflect

The total sky almost without defect,

And like the flowers beside them, chill and shiver,

Will like the flowers beside them soon be gone,

And yet not out by any brook or river,

But up by roots to bring dark foliage on.

The trees that have it in their pent-up buds

To darken nature and be summer woods -

Let them think twice before they use their powers

To blot out and drink up and sweep away

These flowery waters and these watery flowers

From snow that melted only yesterday.

Stay safe, be well.

(and wash your hands)

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe