Ah young love.  Is there really a good way to describe it?  For those watching a first love bloom it can be nerve wracking.  You hope they are smart.  You hope they don’t jump in too fast and that they get to know each other well.  For the young couple, just about everything else disappears.  Life starts to take on a whole new meaning and all of a sudden you can’t wipe that smile off your face. You are filled with butterflies and childlike energy as you experience the first date, the first hand hold, the first kiss.  It can feel like the dawn of the most beautiful day and a story has just been started.  A story that has never been told before and one that you hope will have the happies of never-endings.

This painting is lovingly entitled “Up Until Now” for a personal reason.  I was never sure if I believed in love at first sight, and then one night, a little over 20 years ago it happened to me and I told coworkers the next day that I’d met the man I was going to marry (cue the eye rolls).  But up until that moment I had so many doubts and wonders about my future.  I wondered who I’d marry or even if anyone would ever love me.  I’d wondered what my husband and future children would look like.  I’d wondered what it would feel like to have someone catch you on a swing and look into your eyes.  You see up until then my future was so blurry but in a split instant I saw my entire world become clear in his eyes.

This painting symbolizes a young first love.  The flowers a declaration of love (white tulip) and innocence (daisy).  The butterflies represent the giddy nerves that flutter.  The colors represent the dawn of a new day, and the light layers represent all the life that this young couple will live but can’t see yet.  The swing, well that’s a bit more personal but let’s just say it represents the youthful playfulness that can be seen by others as love begins to bloom.