Spring has fled...

(Forsythia, latex on panel, 2006)

Spring has fled...if not by calendar, then pushed away by 90 degree temperatures. Here is a little painting I did in April, commemorating that most joyful of spring woody shrubs, the forsythia.

One grouping of three shrubs, in particular, that I admired on my morning commute, was the direct inspiration for this painting. I went to visit it one lunchtime; did some sketching to capture the wonderful shape that all three shrubs melting together made, and then transferred it to a painting. I also tried to capture that particular pink, which seemed to create its own aura this past spring; a flood of pink and yellow that one felt immersed in.

My uncle Mike said it well, last weekend, when he stated that it seemed to him this spring everything was more vibrant, and showy. I agreed, and then wondered if it's so much that this year was more spectacular, or if we just forget how the previous year was. I'd like to think that it's the former, but it might be (at least in my case) the latter: and there's something charming about that. A forgetting of splendor, so that it seems fresher and better every year: this reminds me of something about the gospel..."new every morning."

Some of you savvy folks may point to some influence of Fernando Colon-Gonzalez in this painting...I must humbly admit it to be so. See my previous post:

http://gierschickwork.blogspot.com/2006/02/artist-of-fortnight-fernando-colon.html