Spring Sunlight, 2014 – Michaela Harlow- Pastel on Paper (24″ x 19″)

It’s been a wild weekend. Correction. Let me expand on that. It’s been a wild week. Wild weather. Wild schedule. Wild mood swings. However, many things have been accomplished and I am both satisfied and grateful. I am especially appreciative to my wonderful supporters, collectors, friends and family. Thank you.

 Spring thaw has begun in earnest and the seasons are truly changing now. Things are stirred up and unsettled —internally and externally— and I feel like I’m either balancing on thin ice or struggling to move in knee-deep mud. It’s Rasputitsa season and with all of the snow and rain we’ve had over the winter and early spring, it’s going to be long and ugly one. Of course, deep within the forest —beyond the reach of human disturbance— spring thaw is incredibly beautiful. No emerging trash, no rutted roads, no discolored snowbanks and no anxiety about changing schedules; in the forest, there’s just melting. And the things I find emerging —glistening in sunlight and glowing in shadow— are fascinating.

 Spring Shadow, 2014 – Michaela Harlow – Pastel on Paper (24″ x 19″)

I finished two, larger pieces on paper this weekend. There’s still a bit more tweaking to be expected here and there —some obscuring, some softening—- but more or less, these pieces are compositionally complete. One pastel was inspired by a morning walk on Saturday; dawn’s early sunlight dancing on partially melted, peachy-pink puddles. And the other was drawn from a walk through the hemlock stand on Sunday; all moody and green-brown with birth and decay.

  Sunlight and Shadow, side by side

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