A Blue Sky Day

Not a cloud was in the sky when I woke up this morning. The bright warm rays of the sun streamed through the vibrant green pine trees, who seemed to dance in the gentle breeze. Could it be? Was it finally here? A day that actually felt like spring?! The weather this past week has been all over the map - gusting winds, spontaneous rain storms, even a few snow flurries! I know it’s only April (snowfall in April is not unheard of in this part of Idaho) but my heart has been longing for the sunshine. The brilliant blue sky was an unexpected blessing this morning and, I have to admit, I got a little excited. This was hiking weather, this was planting weather, this was DRAWING OUTSIDE WEATHER! :D

Last year, I began a painting of a sunflower, one of Michelle’s gargantuan sunflowers to be more exact. The flower was magnificent and I wanted to do it justice. 

I tried to carefully observe every turn and curve of its pretty golden petals and I attempted to visually unravel the spiky puzzle of its buds. I spent quite a long time diligently laying in the foundation for this piece. In fact, I took such a long time studying photos of her beautiful flower that the seasons changed. It somehow felt silly rendering the bright tones of summer in the cold of winter so I put the painting away, and waited for a sunny day.

As soon as the warm rays of the spring sun touched my skin today, I remembered my sunflower. It wasn’t that I ever really “forgot” the painting, as it has lived next to my bed for months, but more that I had a sense that today was its day! I imagine that this is what the Bible means when it states that God “remembers” something/someone. God is beyond time and is all knowing. He is incapable of forgetting anything in the “oops, I forgot” sense. However, it is said several places in Scripture that God “remembered” [blank] (see Genesis 8:1, Genesis 19:29, Genesis 30:22, Exodus 2:24, 1 Samuel 1:19, Psalm 98:3, etc.). I imagine God’s “remembering” more like God declaring His perfect timing. As though God says to each of us, at the appointed time, “ok, this is it! Are you ready, my beautiful masterpiece? Today is the day that you get another layer of color and beauty added to you.”

I perked myself a big cup of coffee and hauled my easel out back for its first outdoor session of the year. Art was taking place today and it was going to happen in the great outdoors! My watercolor paint tubes glistened in the dazzling sunshine and Tucker and Dale romped gleefully in the grass nearby. My kitties seemed happy that I was joining them outside and they took turns alternating between chasing grasshoppers and lounging on my paint table. 

It was very exciting to resume work on a piece that had lain dormant for so long. It felt so good to create outside and I found that, once again, I had to remind myself not to rush. After all, this piece had waited months for the perfect day, why hurry now and potentially mess it up? My sunflower painting is still a work in progress. I only made it as far as laying in the background today - a beautiful cerulean blue sky. Which is actually quite perfect in a way because sometimes you just need to get outside, breathe the fresh air, and enjoy a beautiful blue sky day.  

Sunflower and Blue Sky (work in progress)

Watercolor paint & pencil

18" x 24"