Today is the last day of March and once again a month has flown by.
A lot has happened this month. Mostly having to do with regular life and not in the studio, sadly. My studio waits for me with this painting I started before the tree fell on the house.
I posted it on Facebook and asked if anyone had any ideas on what it was going to be (this is an under painting) and I was shocked when the first person to comment got it right!
It’s the under painting of a pond with a mermaid. Of course it doesn’t look like much other than an abstract at the moment, but I’ve got the painting in my mind.
This past week has been Spring Break, so my son has been home. Instead of the plans I had for us to go a few places and meet friends and eat out a lot, we ended up working on the house. Yippee. Well at least it’s making progress. The tree is nearly gone. See the branches in the background in front of the lake? Burn pile.
Here’s the leftover twin of the large Silver maple tree that fell on the house. I’m thinking of painting the remaining twin. It really has such a beautiful form and it might not be around much longer. We fear it could fall as well now since it’s been compromised. I really hate losing my trees.
As I picked up a huge branch pile cleaning up, I quietly said my little prayers to the tree. Thanking it for staying up as long as it could, for providing homes for birds and critters, for providing beauty and shade. I told it how I respected it and would miss it, but that by composting its branches it would live on to nurture the land further in my gardens. It also would provide warmth to us in the winter with its large logs.
After I picked up branches I took a break. Zoey and I sat on the swing together and watched the guys work. My handsome son is working the backhoe (above).
We had torrential rains a week ago and had to tarp more of the roof. It’s like the never ending tree incident story! 
On a happier note on the last day of March I found little purple windflowers (anemone) growing and blooming that I had forgotten I planted! Don’t you love it when that happens? They’re tiny little guys though, but I think they’ll perk up a bit now that I’ve cleared away the leaves I left on the gardens over winter.
I’m holding my breath the next couple of nights, we have a freeze warning. Ugh… that’s March for you. I’m glad it’s the last day of March! I’m ready for warmer temperatures and flowers!
some of my paintings
Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.
If you would like to keep up with what I’m doing, I have a newsletter e-mailed about once a month that gives you special status for invitations, birthday greeting and more. I’d love for you to add your email to my Friends and Collectors list!
I was wondering how the roof repairs were going. What a lot of work. A friend once wrote a poem about how light changes with the seasons under water. And that’s what your base for the painting reminds me of. She swims the river year-round, even in snow, and says she loves the deep gold of fall, when leaves fall in the water and the sunlight is slanted lower, and in spring when the clear green of water takes on a bright, almost butter feel. That’s what I see in your canvas – that spring under-water light.
The roof and whole insurance deal is a rather sore spot at the moment. I guess they’re never as anxious as the home owner to get repairs made. We’re still waiting to get the estimate from the insurance company. As it turns, out the guy who said he’d have it to us last Friday, is conveniently on vacation this week and of course he didn’t mention that to us last week so we can’t even call him to check the status. It’s so frustrating.
I’d love to read that poem by your friend, it sounds wonderful. I can’t imagine swimming in ice cold water! Yikes! You’re spot on with the colors under the water though as it is now, and this is going to be an underwater view. However, I plan to make it murkier because I felt this is warm summer water. One of my favorite things to do is be underwater. Sounds are muffled and that feeling of floating weightlessly is an incredible feeling to me. I feel transported into another world, one I wish I could stay under longer with and not have to come up for breath. Everything seems in slow motion and I enjoy just hanging in the water like something that doesn’t quite float to the top or sink to the bottom.