Creating and Rebirth.

It’s spring. The world is ‘mudlucious’ and robins sing. 

The lilacs bloom. 

Peonies bud.  

Ferns wake up reaching for the sky. 

Twig by twig a robin builds a nest on my patio. 

I roam around the lawn sniffing and trimming and clipping flowers. And wondering. 

What will this year bring?

It’s been lonely lately without my Jilly. I miss her trotting beside me up, down and around. She loved to smell the rosemary this time of year. I loved to smell the lilacs. She would have kept watch over the robin, quietly so as to not make the mother nervous. As I sit here and wait for her to accept my presence nearby, I feel a breeze of hope. 

Just like lilac blooms wither where new branches sprout and the crab apple blossoms scatter across the grass making room for fruit to grow, loss is part of life. Death and rebirth dance together in intricate steps through time. 

Creating is a process of making and letting go. 

Last week, I showed and sold my work. This part of the creative process is wonderful and hard work and just as mysterious as beginning a new piece. You never know which pieces will reach out to people and find new homes. Sometimes old work sells and new pieces sit patiently by. 

I am always amazed how art making happens. Like the lilac blooms that took me by surprise, I see new work is sprouting in my studio. Of course, I know I made it all. But when I’m in the making process, I only see the one piece in front of me. I put it on the shelf and create another. 

I don’t see the shelves filling up and it always takes me by surprise. Just like spring bursting from the depths of winter, grass growing from muddy patches, robins sitting in a nest on my patio, creating a rebirth when you weren’t looking.