2023 - SPRING - THOUGHTS OF THE SEASON - AN ARTIST'S PERSPECTIVE
2023 - SPRING 🌷🌼 - THOUGHTS OF THE SEASON - AN ARTIST’S PERSPECTIVE
Well here we are again, 1st March and the meteorological start of Spring, and unbelievably 2023! The older I get, the more surreal it is to realise what year it is - such a long way down the line from 1951, my birth year. Anyone else find that it takes them ages to scroll down the list of years on a digital form asking for the year of your birth?
‘You’re only as old as you feel’ or so the saying goes - well I often feel old, ha ha!! More especially in the cold and wet months of the year. Warmer and drier conditions certainly suit my arthritic joints better - I used to think that was an old wives’ tale until my orthopaedic consultant told me that it is, in fact, true. But more especially it’s the change in atmospheric pressure that causes pain and swelling in the joints. You live and learn!
Hopefully the worst of the cold weather is behind us now (except today it’s nithering!❄️) and it’ll be much more comfortable to paint outdoors in the not too distant future. Until then I might take the car to a few interesting places and sketch whilst looking through the windows! Better still, stay in my studio beside the radiator with a hot cuppa!
Having said all that, haven’t we had some beautiful bright and sunny days lately, almost warm, and very springlike? There are already so many signs of the season changing and better weather ahead, loads of buds on the trees and bushes, blankets of beautiful snowdrops, and daffodils pushing their way up through the softening soil.
As an artist the urge to paint florals in Spring is strong, and one of my new canvases will certainly feature flowers - but maybe in a different way to how I usually paint them. As I’ve mentioned before on my Facebook art page and on my website, I’ve been re-evaluating the way I paint and what I produce, and have already embarked on ‘the new me’, with a more modern and contemporary approach to my landscape and seascape work. I’ll still be painting my wildlife alongside these, and they will still be recognisable as my usual style, albeit with some changes in medium and approach to make them a little bit more ‘modern’.
Old fogies like me often find it hard to climb out of that comfortable and familiar rut, but art, like everything else, passes through phases of what is fashionable and what is not, so artists need to evolve along with that. I’m in that transitional stage at the moment, so wish me luck - I’ll need it!
