I always bite off more than I can chew. My positive spin on this is that I am ambitious (and not crazy) and that it is the inspired and eccentic artist in me that will not be contained. This March we welcomed our third son into the family and in the weeks following his birth I vowed to take it easy and just absorb this precious time. But as is so often the case inspiration struck and thoughts of a new calendar series could not be contained. I blame it on all the leisurely walks I took in the early spring with my new baby in a sling and pretty spring blooms at my feet.
I was stopping to take pictures all over the city. My boys waited patiently in the car while I snapped pics of a crabapple tree in a CVS parking lot. My neighbors got used to me traipsing on their lawns to capture their daffodils, fritillaria and tulips. I didn’t have to go far to find inspiration for the cover. This photo was taken in my back yard where we have a large bed of the most charming flower ever growing; lily of the valley.
Inspiration followed me across state lines when I found this magnolia tree on a quick trip to Michigan. While I love delicate pink varieties that grow here in the midwest, I thought I would honor my southern roots with one gracious and grand bloom like I would find growing near my grandmother’s house.
Working with a restrained palette was a refreshing change. The high contrast of the black and white made choosing just the right green and finessing the subtly of the creams a welcome challenge. While I love drawing colorful flowers most of the time, the ones I like to have around most are white. You can never go wrong with an all white arrangement if you ask me.
