Is it Too early for Spring Fever?

With the temperatures being in the high twenties during the day and the low teens at night, it's no wonder I woke this morning with dreams of gardens and soft, sunny days in my head. As one of my many New Year's resolutions, I promised myself I would paint at least four out of every seven days. So this morning after seeing the children off to school and feeding and watering the goats and chickens, I went into my studio and revisited a painting from a while back that I had never finished.

Sometimes when I reach a point in a painting where I feel like I'm hitting a wall, I'll put the painting away for a while (say about a month) then bring it back out, put it on the shelf in my studio and live with it...I call this "fermenting" a painting. I don't paint on it right away, that's why it's on my shelf. But I look at it while I drink my morning coffee and in passing etc... and it seems to loosen up the "block" that I was experiencing before. I still wait a few days, sort of a psychological tease... until I can't wait to get my hands back on the painting. And when I do, it's a completely fresh experience, and from fermenting it, I'm approaching it from a much more objective, clear eyed point of view.

Such was the case with the pastel entitled "Spring" above. It's a painting of my goat, Fiona, who was the first goat born here on our farm about eight years ago. The picture that I took for the painting was taken in early Spring, just before she was due to kid. I just loved how iconic she looked laying there, content and peaceful, full with the promise of life. This painting was really fun to work on again and finish and in the process hopefully work off a little of this premature Spring Fever!