Spring

I recently spent a week in Latvia.  It was a delightful country, steeped with Nordic charm and full of history and tradition.  And the food was great! But it was freezing, and the icy wind blasted away any sense of spring that I had before going, despite the bursts of colour that the blossom trees created.  I missed the sense of optimism that the spring gives you, despite the clear blue skys and chilly sunshine.  We’re lucky in Scotland, despite the unpredictability of the weather here.  The stunning bluebells, the gorgeous blooms on the trees and the bright yellow flowers of the gorse in full bloom all create a beauty and a sense of optimism after the long, dark winter.  Even the clock changing creates an excitement and hints of the summer ahead.  It’s this excitement that captures the heart of the painter.  Winter is not our natural habitat as the colours dull, and the land slowly hides under a blanket of colourlessness and cold.  Even the most beautiful of winter days can’t compare to the vibrance of spring light streaming through a forest, illuminating the wild garlic flowers, the bluebells and reflecting off the pearlescent bark of the birches.  The birds singing in the morning remind us that the long nights of summer are just around the corner with the stunning sunsets and vibrant floral arrangements scattered everywhere.

You can understand why an artist gets excited at this bloom of colour after a grey winter.  The golden hour returns and the world looks softer and more beautiful than before.  I find myself wanting to paint blossom, wanting to capture the radiance of sunbeams on a canvas, and to replicate the rainbows that scatter unpredictably across the sky.  I want to paint the bright yellow of the gorse, the striking vibrance of the sea-pinks and the stunning variety of the blues and purples in the nodding bluebells.  And as a seascape painter, no one is more surprised by it than me.  Year after year I am reminded of my love for colour at this time of year.  I never love it more than I do in spring.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the seasons in their own way, but there isn’t one that I await with more excitement and anticipation than I do the spring.  I might have to get my paints out…