Spring is spelled P-A-I-N-T O-U-T.

As crazy as life can get on the farm in this season, this is also the time of the year most paintouts are scheduled. They send out the invitations early, when things are still brown and gray outside. Romantic thoughts of sitting outside among the flowers under a warm sun is hard to resist. Then the dates actually come when I have to pack up and leave, stay with an unknown host or hostess, eat food (or not eat food) on the run, and basically live out of my little pick up truck. I tell myself this is the last year I'm doing it. Period. However, I do get to paint, more than I have this year to date, all at once so there is a continuance to my thoughts and patterns of applying the paint. I get to see a snapshot of where I am in my journey as a painter. It's valuable stuff to sift through. Plus, although I'm always nervous about staying with strangers, I'm always rewarded with new friendships. This year has been especially difficult to switch over from farmer to artist. At the Melrose paintout I got to my host home at 9pm on Wednesday after we packaged 80 chickens, stayed until Friday evening, returned home for the farmers market on Saturday, went back Sat. night to paint Sunday. It was exhausting to say the least. Next week, the Evinston paintout will have to work the same way. I'm not complaining, just wondering if this is what I should be doing. The price is high, but the rewards are high too. I completed 7 paintings in Melrose. I'm thinking painting thoughts again and connecting with other artists. I've made new friends and have plans to paint with old friends after the paintouts. As hard as this season is to keep up with, I guess I'm not willing to give it up yet. Then, as things go on the farm, when I got home, there were new chicks to place, chickens to process, and a swarm of bees set up housekeeping in my RVstudio. Never a dull moment.