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Wow! Hard to believe spring is here again...and very welcome after the snowiest winter ever on the Delmarva Peninsula. Everyone is happy to see and feel the sun!

The long winter has been productive for me as I have completed six new paintings from photos taken last summer here in Berlin as well as in Florida. I took a new approach with the pink and burgundy Marsh Mallow Shrub that grows everywhere here in Berlin. I was striving for a more abstract quality in the composition while still retaining the fluidity and paper-like quality of the large petals this flower exhibits. I think I've managed to achieve that and still keep the touch of realism that says 'this is a summer flower'.

The Calla Lily Rainbow painting was a joy to paint. A friend actually asked me to do a painting of calla lilies for her as she loves the purity of the traditionally white blossoms. But when I started researching this flower (as I had nothing nearby to actually photograph)I was surprised to discover that this flower grows in a wide variety of hues. That's when the light bulb went on...an aha! moment (as Oprah always says). Why not create a 'rainbow' of calla lilies? And so I did...building this painting completely in my imagination! I've never worked like that before but rather have always used actual or photo references. It was a freeing change requiring me to really draw on prior knowledge of composition, light and shadow.

A very productive winter...maybe it should snow consecutive blizzards every year!! But then again, I think not!

So now spring has come 'round again and it is perfect weather to begin capturing all of the new blooms emerging from the thawing ground. Stop back soon to see what's new!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood ...and off I go, camera in hand, to capture new images to use for my next series of floral watercolors. A few weeks ago I discovered deep maroon and pale peach irises in a neighbor’s yard. After snapping several frames in the bright sunlight, my neighbor came onto his deck, coffee in hand, to investigate. A great way to meet the neighbors and begin a dialogue ...just walk in their yards and start clicking away!!

Today is perfect for capturing just emerging gladioli...soft pinks, bright oranges, even a few purples fill the camera’s view finder. I love the tall “standing-at-attention” aura they create in a garden otherwise full of shorter less ‘commanding my attention’ blossoms. Daisies and black-eyed susans are replete and offer up their faces for inclusion in my reference album.

Now it’s back to the studio to choose, crop and edit the references for this week’s flower of the season. Stop back to view the progress I’m making.

“When I go out into the countryside and see the sun and the green and everything flowering, I say to myself, “Yes, indeed, all that belongs to me.” ...Henri Rousseau