Earlier this year, in the spring, I managed to get a few pictures of forsythia in bloom. Shortly after taking these photos the weather turned very cold and most of the blossoms around here were lost to frost damage, turning brown and shriveling overnight. It really was a shame; the burst of yellow forsythia is so short lived to begin with. I thought I'd paint them but I wanted more in the piece than the flowers.

The wild turkey population has been down the past couple of years. It's rare that I see a flock walking across my yard or peeking in my studio windows. Last year hunters were only permitted to take one instead of the usual two but I wish they'd stop hunting them altogether. A few weeks after I photographed the forsythia I was passing a field near my house and I saw a line of turkeys, all with tail feathers on display. So I put them here, with the spring flowers.

I've been posting my work-in-progress on Instagram and I remember showing the two turkeys on the right and commenting that we all knew who the alpha was. My thinking was that the large puffed up bird with all of the fancy plumage was the one but now, looking again, I think I may have been mistaken. That one on the very end who's not showing off, who's slightly taller than the flashy one, who seems to be locking eyes with the flashy one may be the reckoning force. Is the flashy bird pulling his head in slightly? You may have noticed that the bird on the very end is a female. I like when the dynamic in my paintings surprises me.

I'd hate for you to miss the lively black squirrel over on the left. I only recently saw this one and I wanted to make a note of it since black squirrels are a little unusual. It ran up ahead of me for a bit while I was on the trail -- silky, shiny, and black as anything.

This is a long horizontal watercolor and gouache painting. 17" x 7" (43cm x 18cm).
It's available here in my Etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/462345211/original-watercolor-painting-springtime