Something happened yesterday on the official first day of a late west coast spring. At the end of last week I was still in my contemplative winter mental attire. My grey, northern, rain forest interior is filled with homemade soup warmth, maybe a touch red-wine melancholy, smoothed over with by woolen thoughtfulness and a sparkle from a waterproof jacket garnish. It is a savory mix best served hot. During this time I often explore the underbelly of my daily life both in painting and in words. But the garment of winter fell free as easily as the first night of hearing the frogs in the pond in the valley below. Consequently, I had something intricate and dense simmering about the language of painting for this post. But it is not to be, at least not for this week. The joyous zealous brushstrokes of spring are here. Who can ponder at a time like this!?
So I dug through the archives and have chosen seven springtime paintings or painting sketches representing a variety of locations I have been over the past four years. There is a spring work to enjoy for each day of week. Happy spring!
Spring in Tuscany 20 x 30 cm acrylic sketch on canvas board and a rare painting where I have overtly included the painter in this Florence, Italy countryside.
Prints available HERE.
Villeneuve lez Avignon France 24 x 36 inch oil on canvas with its layers of memories and visible history.
Original painting available HERE.
Fremont Hills California Early Spring 18 x 24 inch walnut oil on canvas. Painted from a plein air day of reference material with a colleague and friend, Lena Levin. We were just talking last week about how our paintings were so different even though we were standing almost right beside each other.
Original painting available HERE.
Cherry Blossoms Mayne Island Japanese Garden 20 x 24 inch oil on canvas. The gardens are a divine place to be in spring and a local year-around treasure.
Original painting available HERE.
Sea and Sun Cox Bay Tofino BC 24 x 48 inch oil on canvas. Know as our real west coast, spring is the time that the sun breaks through the winter rains and spirits are lifted as high as the rollers coming in from the open sea.
Original painting available HERE.
Rolling Spring Storms Rocky Point PEI 20 x 40 inch walnut oil on canvas. Bit of weather out there today, someone will likely comment. Collars of light jackets will be turned up and tightened at the neck but the smiles, they tell us one thing – spring!
Original painting available HERE.
Blooming Point PEI 8 x 10 inch acrylic plein air sketch on gessobord. Spring comes a little later to Prince Edward Island. So on this particular year we had two springs! The first on the west coast Canada and then a most lovely second on the east coast.
Prints available HERE.
Now that we have been to Florence Italy and Avignon France in Europe, Fremont California in the United States, Mayne Island and Tofino on the southwest coast of Canada and finally to Prince Edward Island on the East coast of Canada, what about you?
Is it spring yet where you are?
And yes, I am publishing a day early this week. Why not, it is spring after all.
© 2017 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.
Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.
Creative Potager – Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch
From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada
For gallery and purchase information about Terrill’s photographs and paintings go to http://terrillwelchartist.com
Creative Potager 
It is great to see all these lovely paintings once again ! It is a journal of your painting travels even if you didn’t leave home.
I was considering how many times I have photographed the spring buds even though they maybe the same subject the moments are different, the light, the time of the day even taken in other areas I had walked. I hear myself, “why are you photographing these again?” and I just do it anyway.
“Morning’s kiss wakes trees and flowers,
And to them I’d like to drink a toast.
But I walk in the park
Just to kill the lonely hours.
Spring can really hang you up the most.”
Line from the “Spring can really hang you up the most” conveys where my spring is at the moment!
Thank you for sharing your poem with us Jeff. I suppose it does, spring, hang us up the most at times. I always feel Iike I have survived winter when the first signs of spring arrive. There is a relief and release of energy in this. But maybe too, in spring it is also safe to feel really sad where one wouldn’t dare give in to such melancholy during the darkest days of winter. Possibly we feel spring is strong enough to withstand our inner dreariness. Possibly. A thought anyway.
I too find these repeated patterns in the seasons on our small island and respond to them the same as you, photographing the wonders yet again, capturing the nuisances of differences. I like thinking about you wandering around in this shared exploration as we bare witness to the passage of time. I believe it is a good practice, a kind of spiritual practice for an ordinary everyday.
Happy spring Jeff!
And while I love them all, my two favorites are “Villeneuve lez Avignon France” and “Cherry Blossoms Mayne Island Japanese Garden.”
Is it spring where I’m currently hiding out? There’s a whispered hint of it in the still-chilly air.
Ah, you must be high in the hills of a place with real winter Laurie. I am excited for your location to be revealed. Of course, I have made one up for you in Vermont. 😉 Glad you had a chance to stop by on your busy town day.
Delightful I enjoyed the words and the paintings…I do think Spring is coming – this is a good reminder to be patient
Me too Patricia! You and I have pretty close to the same weather. A lot of patience seems to be required this year. But we will get there.