David Hockney is the celebrated doyen of British 60s pop art. The reason I chose this painting to kick off a short series of posts on Spring in art is because I liked the candor of what he said about it: "In this painting I wanted the sensation of very early spring, when the first leaves come out. They begin at the very bottom of the trees, and you don't see very much of the branches. They seemed to float. I loved that idea and that's what this painting is about. This was my

I have this inexplicably difficult relationship with exclamation marks, which I find offensive and mostly unnecessary. But the arrival of Spring has to be my favourite event in the year and, as such, it's okay to shout about it. So yes folks, Spring is here! Except I was so busy being worried and poring over the news that I almost missed it. Amid the global pandemic doom and gloom, 82-year old British artist David Hockney sends us a much-needed message of hope and positivity