Signs of Spring is a new 24 x 48” oil on canvas painting. Like a story, the viewer’s eye begins on the left of the canvas with a bull rush or cattail, an important native plant used by indigenous First Peoples for food, medicine and technology. The roots can be ground into flour, the seeds (the brown magic wand top) help stop bleeding and can be applied directly to a wound and the leaves and stalks were used to make mats for wigwams. (ref.)
Behind the cattail is a fence and the simplified shape of a building. A tree drops the viewers eyes down to a patch of flowers and then pushes back up to a quiet, abstract flock of birds resembling origami peace cranes. a gentle hill leads to a central figure enjoying the warmth and first signs of spring. The viewer’s eye travels down their arm to another figure on a bench and then falls to a small figure whose yellow skirt punctuates the bottom right-hand corner. A fence behind the figure quietly continues the story while above them delicate tree branches lead the eye back into the painting to start again.
Available at the Gallery Upstairs in Milton ON.
