Breaking Loose

This is the time of year when the natural world struggles to break free, pushing through the soil crust, fighting to loosen the coverings that function as protection from the cold - slowly unfurling and growing.

This new growth provides great inspiration for the artist, the shapes, colors and patterns always seem to find their way into my work.

This is dutchman's breeches, a wildflower I've only found growing in one place on the Island. I've been trying to capture good images of the blossoms for several years now. Up to this point, I was always just a little too early or a little too late, but this year I caught them - finally!

The trout lilies, named for the speckled leaves, are carpeting the woods, an exception to the usual pastel spring flowers.

I spotted quite a few of these moths, I'm not familiar with this particular species, but they are definitely prolific.


Here's a patch of early blooming trillium, we don't usually see these for a couple more weeks.

This was a very brave hare, he allowed me to approach withing five feet. He's trying to break free too, in his case, free of the remains of his white winter fur. When he finally hopped away, I could see that even the bottoms of his large rear feet are white.

These are not flower buds, but leaf clusters, ever so slowly unwinding and spreading, starting to soak up the sun.

I've finally finished my winter projects and it's time for my work to move in a different direction; I'm walking, trying to pay attention to the details - nature always provides if we are willing to view things with a new eye.