Waking Up

Every year I am amazed to see the snow melt and life return. Dead browns and grays give way to glowing greens and incredible unexpected colors. It doesn't get old for me. Spring is amazing every single year. Amazing. I think this piece does a good job of capturing how Spring feels to me as an artist. Like an explosion of color. A color tornado swooping in after months of monochromatic stillness. It is dizzying. Intoxicating. Inspirational.

There are words painted in very small black letters that read, "I am always shocked by Spring." I created this piece hoping that it would bring a bit of glorious Spring warmth to your home all year round. To remind you that drab times - like the Winter months - are temporary stages that always lead to new growth.

How Waking Up was created..... After the black acrylic primer dried, I used palette knives to create a wild fun expressionist abstract. While that layer was still wet, I used a scraper to clear away the colors and textures from a small "window". Once that underpainting dried, I used brushes and my fingers to fling bits of brilliant color all over the place. Like wildflowers budding out. Then I used tiny detail brushes to add the words and to paint the dynamic flowers and vines that appears in the cleared "window".

(The sides have been textured and painted to match. This is a digital photo. The scans above and below are more accurate.)

Waking Up was painted on an 8" x 8" stretched canvas. The sides of this piece DO have staples but they are covered by layers of texture and paint and they do not detract from the piece at all. This painting looks lovely displayed as it is without framing either directly on the wall or on a small decorative easel. Or it can be easily and affordably framed as it requires no matting or glass.