As I set out to paint The Awakening Collection, I followed the rhythms of spring as it unfolded before my eyes. The snow-crusted, cloudy days of March slowly made way for the rain (and mud!) of April, flecked with a few bright bursts of daffodils, hyacinths and clover. The white-and-brown landscape welcomed a bit more green each day, and in these first weeks of May, spring finds us in full, celebratory bloom.

Without fail, spring surprises me each year with its fullness of color and abundance of blooms. Almost as if I’d never seen them before, the spring greens, soft pink cherry blossoms, fragrant lilacs and magenta crabapple trees are suddenly around every corner with an almost unrealistic beauty.

I used nature as my guide to paint The Awakening Collection, and simply painted what I felt and saw. The pair of 18” x 24” pieces I began with, Essence and Glimmering, use the early-spring browns of the rocky landscape to contrast with the vibrant sunrise color that reflects on the water in the foreground – promising brighter days to come. Several other pieces – Lifted, Mystic, and In The Heights) show the view from the ground as colorful treetops unfold in full spring color – seeming to awaken from their winter dormancy. 

As I thought more deeply about spring, and nature’s “awakening” from winter, I considered some parallels in my own life. Having our second baby in the first month of pandemic lockdown and returning to remote work (while working to build this very longed-for art business) was a textbook recipe for burnout. But like all of us in those months, no matter the situation we found ourselves in, we just had to slog through. It wasn’t all bad – there were moments of satisfaction and even pure joy, and most importantly relief at the sheer luck that our friends and family stayed healthy. That aside, I found myself very much in “survival mode”, relying on phones and ipads to connect with others and the world from the safety of home, also turning to screens to relax with what little down time I had.

Now that the days of panicked survival mode are (mostly 😅) over, I’ve been working to shift from “doing” mode – mostly on autopilot – to “learning” mode. I’m getting more intentional about looking up from the screen (even tucking it out of sight if I can!) to be more awake to what’s happening around me. I’m reacquainting myself with the joyous simplicity of paying attention – to what’s happening in the landscape around me, to my conversations with loved ones far and near, and to the delight of my littles as they discover and play.

I’ve worked to make space to learn about anything from time management, mindful parenting, and better business strategies to how to build a better campfire and look for edible plants in nature. We’ve even been trying to stop googling silly questions and use them instead as conversation starters in face-to-face interactions with friends and acquaintances.

Collectively I think we’re still coming out of our post-pandemic cocoons, and reacquainting ourselves with all that awaits us. Some things may look a bit different this season, but spring holds an important reminder of resiliency and strength. Like those first spring buds to appear, then be buried in spring snow and quickly reappear, we can make it through hard things. And on top of that, there’s a softness to spring that reminds us to be gentle and patient with ourselves as we continue to stretch and grow. 

The small batch of original paintings that make up The Awakening Collection is available now!