Three Little Birds in the Bougainvillea

This is a covid quarantine painting. Most of April to June of 2020, my community was under a 24/7 covid quarantine. During this time I was not allowed to leave my yard. I spent most every morning sitting in my back yard with my coffee watching the sun come up. As the sun spilled over the eves of the neighbour’s house it lit up the overgrown bougainvillea on the far wall. Birds nesting deep in the thorny branches spent a happy 15 minutes singing their hopeful greetings to the new day and dancing about in and out of the deep green leafy shadows and vibrant magenta blossoms. After a few days enjoying this ritual, I set up my easel and paint box next to my bistro table put some Bob Marley on my music play list. I spent my mornings for the next couple weeks listening too and painting “Three Little Birds”. Little birds, magenta blossoms, and the gentle gold of sunrise will always be the memory of joy discovered in the midst of difficulty.