Sleightholm Folk Art

Hello, and good morning! It’s Tuesday today, so I thought— well, surely— we need a Tasha Tuesday!~

In Tasha’s New England homes, spring first peeks out above the snow and leaves in the month of April. I know from reading the many books about her life and home that she greatly looked forward to this time of year! She once even said that she illustrated “to keep the wolf from the door- and to buy more bulbs.” And so this season of the glory of first flower and leaf was one dear to her heart, as it is to many of us!

One of the elements I love so very much in Tasha’s work is the profusion of flowers she painted. There were no empty corners of her art if a flower might be used to embellish! She often used her own garden for inspiration– from the first pussywillow to the lovely white branches of dogwood. Tasha was able to succinctly convey precisely what time of the year her scene was taking place by the use of seasonal flowers and plants.

Tasha was also known for her use of borders to frame an illustration within the page, and often flowers, branches and little animals found themselves included. Tasha was a fan of a glorious, profuse bouquet, and kept them both within and without her house— whether in her kitchen, at her painting table, or on her tea table on her back porch. How could she not be inspired, with such seasonal richness always on hand to lend an idea for a painting?

As blossoms wake up wherever you may live— here in Oklahoma, our tulips are out, with the earliest already starting to fade– I hope you thoroughly enjoy them. Do not be afraid to cut yourself a little garden bouquet, no matter how humble. In my kitchen, I have a little vase of bridal veil (spirea) and lilac just above the sink. And if you have no garden to cut from (or a kindly gardening friend who’d let you have a blossom or two) you can find flowers fairly affordably at the grocery store. If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, they are very good about offering a wide variety of seasonal flowers at very good prices.

Well, I am off to start the day now— here’s hoping its’ a beautiful one! Its a bit chilly here, but the sky is blue and the garden is definitely coming to life, with many buds springing up every day. What is blooming where you live? Have you had spring flowers for a while, or are just the very earliest starting to come out? I hope you are well, and I hope you enjoy a bit of blooming beauty in your day!

And of course–

Take Joy!
~H