Seeing Spring with a Pencil and Watercolors

"If spring came but once a century instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change."   -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"There is nothing more breathtaking than the wonder of new growth as life emerges from the long cold sleep of winter. As I feel the warmth rise in ourselves and in the trees and soil my creativity seems to bubble more easily to the surface. I notice this most when I am still, and take time to wonder at the unfolding of a leaf or the blossom on a tree.

This is best done with pencil in hand as it slows down my left brained analytical mind and opens up the side of my brain that sees what is really in front of me. I'm finding joy in the process of sketching and letting go of the expectation of a realistic portrayal of my subject. The simple act of seeing, truly seeing, with a pencil in my hand has opened up a whole new world of wonder and beauty." Lyric Montgomery Kinard, Art Quilter.

I have been very busy with a online watercolor journal class from Jane Lafazio.  I have never drawn or painted and I was afraid I could not.  But I wanted to try and I wanted to have fun.  And it was fun and I am learning to draw and watercolor slowly.  I wanted to quote form Lyric, because I have never enjoyed spring as much as this year with my pencil, my blackberry camera phone, and my watercolors.  It is so different looking at a flower to see how to draw it.    Jane LaFazio