A Gift Of Flowers

Today is the beginning of May and the start of brand new Doodlewash adventure! This month, we’ll be exploring all of those things that are certain to produce smiles. I came home this evening with literally no idea in mind of what to paint for today’s prompt of flowers, and so I’m running a bit late. I spent several minutes joyously procrastinating. I finally landed on a little jar of freshly picked tulips as it’s the season and they certainly make me smile. I love seeing the tulips pop up in spring. They seem to be the signal around these parts that we’ve definitely had an official change in weather and winter is behind us. That said, once it did actually snow in May a few years ago, so anything is possible really. But seeing these little flowers dotting the landscapes around the neighborhood always fills me with a sense of hope. Philippe and I don’t really give each other flowers, but we’ll often pick them up while at the grocery store to display for a few days. Most of time, we forget to assign someone to check the water levels and they’ll begin to wilt far sooner than they should. But for whatever time we manage to keep them alive, it still feels like a gift.

Since the weather has been perfectly crazy here and cold for far too long, we haven’t been in the mood to plant any flowers yet. I’m hoping that the mood strikes us and we decide to line the terrace with something colorful and awesome. But, outdoor flowers don’t fair much better than their indoor counterparts under our care. Thankfully, it’s rather rainy here this time of year so they can pretty much fend for themselves. Once summer hits, though, they’ll be wishing they lived elsewhere as we takes turns forgetting to water them. We both have the best of attentions but paired with a level of distraction only a squirrel might appreciate. Or the cute little squirrels themselves become distracting, so really, in the end, I think I blame them. Either way, we’re just happy to see the lovely flowers on the terraces of the more deliberate and focused neighbors.

Philippe is out at a work event tonight so I’m home alone. Like in the movie by the same name, where I’m just waiting for the bungling robbers to appear and thwart them with my childish antics. But suffice it say, this doesn’t help much with my already tenuous focus. It’s funny how much I rely on our regular routine to create these posts. When I’m left alone to wander about in my thoughts, time seems to stand still, and I lose track of it all. But, in some ways, it’s also really fun. Just letting the moment take me in whatever direction it wants and doing things as they come to me. I hope many of you will be joining me on this month’s adventure. As most of you know, nearly all of my drive to show up and paint each and every day is created by all of you. Your lovely paintings and encouraging comments keep me coming back for more! I really can’t thank you enough for joining me on my adventures. It means the world to me. In many ways, it’s like each and every day, I’m getting a gift of flowers.

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About the Doodlewash Da Vinci Paint Co.: Nickel Azo Yellow, Quinacridone Red, Leaf Green, Terra Cotta, and Cobalt Blue. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop!

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash®, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group™, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing daily watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world! If you’d like to be a guest artist on Doodlewash.com, contact me!