The Middle Valley

First Bloom marks the beginning of the seasonal cycle within the landscape. Executed in dry pastel on Pastelmat, the three works observe the moment when winter’s restraint begins to soften and colour quietly returns to the hills.

Cool mountain ridges recede into mist while the foreground slopes warm gradually as the first wildflowers begin to scatter across the terrain. Rather than depicting the fullness of spring, the series focuses on the threshold moment when the land is only just beginning to awaken.

The compositions move across the landscape as if walking through it, shifting from distant ridges to valley floor and finally to a flowering hillside where colour gathers most densely.

Through layered pastel surfaces and soft atmospheric transitions, the works explore the delicate shift between dormancy and emergence, capturing the quiet energy of the first bloom.