Spring begins at the Arboretum

It is mid April and the weather during my visit is , well British .

I like the grey backdrop and the consistent light it brings , a sunny day can play havoc with your eyes when en plein air painting so it's on with the thermals and wellies for me and thankfully  just a short cameo for my raincoat this time. 

There is really only one place to start to describe this time of the year  and it has to be the bluebells . Incredible swaths of colour that to my eye are neither blue nor purple but somewhere mysterious in between. The shade has me grappling with the pallet trying desperately to do it justice for some time. Tall trees stand like pillars interrupting the ephemeral blue blanket , whilst in smaller glades the tapestry of bright new buds Spring blooms and delicately barren branches  awaiting their turn to shine makes my heart sing. The last of the daffodils adding the perfect punctuation to the tide of blue and blossom quickly becomes a painting , all the while the thought of the level of planning it must take to create these spaces to such perfection has my full admiration , sometimes I don't know if beauty such as this can even be painted . 

The arboretum is curated perfectly to showcase moments just like this . Throughout the park blossom dances between deep lush evergreens and droops over the water near Henry's island in a shamelessly show stopping display. 

I find myself doubling back frequently as I pass by areas that enchanted me so much two months ago , now entirely transformed into something new and often in colours I could never had guessed they could have become back  in late January

Everywhere I look I see the work of Monet . It took me some time to value his vision , perhaps because we have become so subjected to it's blousy romance and iconic style ? but standing here amidst all this grace I absolutely get it , he nailed it. All the magic ,all that fleeting beauty captured perfectly by his radically impressionistic approach. My surroundings here  have begun to inform a much freer painting style for me and i'm so glad.

The lake was one of my favourite places to paint on this visit . The banks showy with new growth reflecting into lazy pools now dotted with Lilly pads of burgundy and green. I look forward to visiting the bog garden on my return , right now it smells divine and is becoming a juicy earthy bold swath of iris and hosta leaves by summer it will be in it's prime , I can't wait to paint it .