Almond blossoms are the first flower of spring here - or, more often winter. They can open any time after Christmas and make me so happy!
Some of my favourite paintings are of almond blossoms by Van Gogh. From his letters, we know he painted them in a hurry and often painted several in a day. He was just that excited about these flowers. A sign of renewal and vivification after the darkness of winter.
Part of my own revitalization is painting. It's helping me recover from injury and other issues that stopped me doing the one thing I did best - yarn. And one of the ways to get better at painting is to make a Master Copy. A master copy of my favourite painting would be lovely to hang on the wall.
Spoilers: it's not going on the wall, but there's at least two chickens.
But it's not a style I normally paint in, as I'm leaning heavily towards realism and paintings that are done in layers. So it's a good exercise for me to paint this way as it's basically the opposite of my normal.
The almond has a special meaning for me. I have one lonely almond tree who finally made the first nut last summer. I'm often out there on cold days with a paint brush to pollinate it as the insects aren't always keen to come out to play in winter.
From the little I've learned of Vincent, and reading translations of some of his letters, arriving at Arles and seeing the unexpected snow covering the almond orchards (groves?) in full bloom was a spiritual expierence. I fell that moment is a huge turning point in his work. It's from there that what he paints is recognizably Vincent Van Gogh. Before that, it feels like he was stumbling around with the paint brush, following other people's styles and ideas. But here, Vincent becomes truly Vincent.
Even if he looses himself later, he has a moment of clarity that most of us miss out on during our journey through this world. That's the part of his story that I love most.
This is my first video in a long time. It's a master copy of Van Gogh's Almonds in a glass. If you want to see more painting videos, please come over to youtube and give it a like. If it does well, maybe I'll come back to making videos.
So far it isn't doing well. The first few hours of going live make it a close contestant for worst video of my channel - The worst being my first video. That was also paint related.
I know, it didn't turn out as well as it could have. But that's why I paint. To learn and get better. Van Gogh is harder than he looks.
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