Spring Sketches, Sweet Snuggles & Studio Time
Spring just keeps unfolding, and I’m soaking in every bit of it as April gives way to May. I’ve been watching all kinds of new life pop up from the ground—buds, blossoms, and those bright greens that feel so full of promise. Of course, we always get a sneaky late frost over here on our side of the Shenandoah Valley. This year, our peach trees were in full, glorious bloom for several weeks... and then, bam—frost hit hard. I’m afraid there’ll be no peaches for us this summer.
But I did manage to take lots of photos of those beautiful blooms before the frost set in. I’m hoping to use them as reference for a future watercolor painting—or maybe even to inspire a new surface pattern design for fabric. Honestly, if I turned every flower and leaf I’ve photographed this spring into a pattern, I’d have enough to fill a whole design library!
One of the highlights this month was taking a local watercolor class that combined pen and ink with watercolor painting. I’ll admit, drawing doesn’t come naturally to me, so sketching was a bit of a challenge—but a good one. It’s funny how we often think we know what a flower looks like, but once you slow down and really observe it, the details are astonishing. The way petals curve out from the center, the angle of the stamens, even the way the leaves are arranged—it’s all beautifully intricate.
The process in class went something like this: we sketched our botanical subject with pencil on sketchbook paper, outlined it in permanent black pen, and then traced that design onto watercolor paper using a lightbox (a little shortcut that definitely helped!). From there, we played with color swatches on scrap paper to get just the right shades before filling in our illustrations. In the final class, we added the background color—and now I’m itching to carve out more time to keep painting.
In the studio, I’ve been stitching up new embroidered tea towels for spring and summer and playing with lace earrings again. I also came across a stunning “America the Beautiful” fabric panel that I just had to use as the centerpiece of a patriotic quilt. I pieced the border using fabric scraps from my stash and can’t wait to get it quilted.
On the home front, we’ve had a full house lately with visits from several of the kids—and lots of sweet grandbaby snuggles, which is always the best kind of joy. We’re also bracing ourselves for a full kitchen remodel. I’ve been packing up 45+ years’ worth of kitchen treasures, deciding what to keep and what to finally let go. It’s exciting, but also... a little overwhelming. If you’ve gone through a kitchen renovation and have any wisdom to share, I’m all ears!
Until next time—here’s to blooming where we’re planted, savoring life’s simple joys, and finding beauty in the details.