It’s that day of the week again…mood board Monday! Last week I shared about my love for the movie La La Land. It’s all things classic hollywood movie-musical with modern twists. I can’t wait to watch it again when it comes out on Blu-Ray; it’s already one of my favorite soundtracks. I’ve enjoyed listening to it while I paint and putter around…it’s soothing and sweet without being too demanding on the ears.
This week though, I’ve been enamored with all the newness of Springtime. We are in the throes of it here in Texas. The trees are greening up, the blooms on the forsythia and other blossoming perennials have me smiling. I love watching the squirrels and birds scamper about with joy. They look happy and relieved for the Winter to be ending.
March is so happy to me! I was married in March to my beloved 17 years ago this week! I wore a beautiful silk gown and carried a flourish of roses down the aisle. Our wedding verse has always been a favorite:
“See? The Winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the Earth; the season of singing has come.”
~Song of Solomon 2:11-12
I love this verse so much…It has hope and promise and joy within it.
So, since I’m feeling flush with springtime, memory, and merriment, I chose the happiest color of all to inspire. Yellow!
This backpack and camera are at the top of my wish list for Spring. I have needed something new to carry out in the field when trekking for my plein air excursions. I’ve always heard wonderful things about this Swedish brand of bags. The color is so happy! I also love the Instax cameras. These are basically the replacement for the good ol’ Polaroid cameras of old. Sweet little prints *actually print directly from the camera!* We’re all so used to having our phones for quick snapshots and I love that the Instax gives us a tangible photograph to hold onto. I have so many photos I need to print. It’s just one of those things that as a society, we don’t do anymore! This camera would be great for taking plein air images to print in the field. I often take a snapshot on my phone to capture shape and to help set my composition but it’s often hard to see a camera screen in bright sunshine. This could be the solution!
The Happiness Project is a book my sister gave me several years ago. It’s a wonderful memoir of the author’s journey towards practicing rituals and lessons to help achieve daily happiness. I loved it! I refer to it on and off and it’s a cheerful addition to my studio bookshelf. Of course I couldn’t post a mood board without posting some amazing art supplies! This Terry Ludwig set of pastels is the Sunrise/Sunset collection. It’s dreamy! I love Terry’s pastels so much. They are the perfect amount of softness without being too buttery and filling up the tooth of your paper. I love the shape and ability to achieve different marks due to the straight edges. Any of his pastel sets are beautiful. I have several and they are in heavy use in my studio.
These last few links and images are just fun things I like around the interwebs. Unearthed comics is something I discovered on Facebook and Sara Zimmerman is the creative force behind the timely, funny, tender, truthful illustrations. I’ve mentioned her before in my Newsletter and every time I see one of her comics, I nod my head, chuckle, and feel like someone out there just gets it.
I couldn’t not post this cute Smile pillow and also my daisy photograph I took when my now big kids were small. I remember taking it so vividly…my happy little toddlers were running around in the sweet sunshine and grass. A perfect day and memory.
I hope some of these things inspire you to happiness today. (Wouldn’t it be dreamy to write at the yellow desk up there? This has been on my Pinterest board for many, many moons…). When researching and putting this blog post together, I hadn’t realized how many little touches of yellow I have in my home. Everywhere I look, there are little bright spots of happiness and joy. It’s quite appropriate really. I do live in Amarillo, after all!
xoxo
Bethany ( 🙂 <—hee hee)
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