After a winter of frozen ground, the first flowers of Spring in Nova Scotia are truly a rebirth. As innocent as a new baby.

Tulips represent that awakening for me. I love them so much that I planted more this year. And even while we still had snow on the ground, they pushed their leaves up through the soil. When I walked past them in late March, I reminded myself to lay some deer-proof chicken wire. But I forgot. The deer however, did not forget. They LOVE tasty, fresh tulip leaves and unopened heads when available. Fortunately, they left me a few. The don’t like daffodils and I planted 80 new ones last fall, so there’s that. The tulips now have chicken wire around them. Some lessons take longer than others to learn.

This painting is at the Teichert Gallery in Halifax, NS as a submission to their annual May Spring Show.