A Host of Daffodils

I use color to lift my spirits, as probably many of you do too. Today is definitely a yellow day, a daffodil day! The weather here is drippy, damp and unrelentingly gray. Maybe I'll look for some at the market, it's too early for them to be blooming in Vermont. But they will be here soon with all the other little early-spring flowers--marsh marigold, trillium, trout lily--their unexpected bits of color showing up in the otherwise dull landscape.

Last week, after looking down the list of offerings in my Etsy shop, I realized I was in a color rut! Almost everything looked too dark and intense so I worked on some blue sky colorways, at the advice of my Vermont clay buddy, Cindy Walcott. That led to red cabbage purples and then to green, since I was working on a custom bead order and messing around with faux jade. I thought about walking in the spring woods and mixed up some caramel, jade, pearl, silver and gunmetal and then did a gold and deep yellow mix as an accent color. The results were very woodsy and with the addition of some repurposed wood beads and lampwork they will make a very nice necklace. I might even do a faux jade pendant to add to it!

So take advantage of the change of seasons to inspire your creative choices. Pushing yourself to try a color that you've never used before or don't use often is a great exercise. I don't have as much yellow in my closet as I'd like--it's hard to find just the right yellow in clothing or fabric. But I can just mix my clay however I like. Here's what I made in yellow-- hope you like it.