A Perfect Springtime Animation: The Windmill Farmer by Joaquin Baldwin

April may be the cru­elest month, mix­ing mem­o­ry and desire, etc. But Mr. Eliot nev­er depend­ed on sea­son­al change for his liveli­hood, except per­haps in the vaguest metaphor­i­cal sense. For a more uplift­ing take on spring, here’s The Wind­mill Farmer, a charm­ing short film by one of our favorite young ani­ma­tors.

Joaquin Bald­win, 27, earned his MFA at The UCLA Ani­ma­tion Work­shop. He was born in Paraguay to an envi­ron­men­tal activist moth­er and an artist father, and you can see the influ­ence of both voca­tions in his shorts, which have already won over 100 awards, and often have an envi­ron­men­tal theme. For more infor­ma­tion about his work and back­ground, check out our edi­tor’s 2010 write-up over at Brain­pick­ings. And enjoy those lilacs while they last.

Sheer­ly Avni is a San Fran­cis­co-based arts and cul­ture writer. Her work has appeared in Salon, LA Week­ly, Moth­er Jones, and many oth­er pub­li­ca­tions. You can fol­low her on twit­ter at @sheerly.