Warm weather, crocus & daffodils blooming, shorts & short sleeves starting to appear ... ?
We have had a few warm days, though they always seem to be followed by a cold day or a week of cold & damp days. I have faith eventually it will be warm and then too hot and we will all be longing for cool weather again.
Wildwood is next weekend. That tells me that spring is well underway. What is Wildwood? Primarily it is a shore town in New Jersey. But if you are part of a group that competes in the Tournament of Bands/Tournament Indoor Association it is 4 days of constant practicing & competing in that shore town. My oldest child is in drumline and the jazz band. This means she will compete in 2 categories that weekend. I wish her & them well & hope that as a chaperone we all have a safe and fun weekend.
Spring also saw me doing demonstrations of medieval style illumination at Glen Cairn museum - during their Medieval Fair in February and at their Sacred Arts festival in April. Both days were great fun, I spoke with many people some who had an idea what I was doing and some who had no idea anyone still did such things. My table was next to the demonstration of a reconstruction of a Gutenberg Press. When the day was done I got a chance to watch the Gutenberg Press in action. It a great a day that I can share knowledge and receive knowledge, especially if it's in a beautiful place. There was also a monk doing a Mandala - it was just stunning. I did not get to watch the final ceremony but I heard part of it, and I did get a small bag of the colored sand.
Now that it's warming up a bit it's time to take on some outdoor projects. As I sit here writing I can hear a neighbor reconstructing his deck. Maybe we will get around to a similar project this year. We have some fence and exterior wall painting to do this spring/summer. Maybe we will also add some insulation to the walls of our 150+ year old home.
I think the best part of spring is that my studio (which is unheated) is warm enough to work in and I can start moving all my art supplies back out of my dining room and into the studio. A little spring cleaning is needed but the creative juices are starting to flow and it's time to start making new things. While I'm in transition back to the studio I have completed a few new necklaces and I am working on a series of earth spirit dolls.
What signals spring for you?
