Latest Garden Photos

Garden and art theme painting

 The basic idea I'll be trying to express through this painting is that everything springs from my garden. It's a celebration of creativity.

 I'm starting with the garden tools and art supplies.

The sky tones on the top and the earth tones at the base will be a great background as I begin to paint in some of the plants from my garden.

What do you think of it so far?

The most amazing idea

I can't show it to you yet(the pencil lines I've sketched in don't show up on a photo) but I'm so excited about the idea of my new painting that I had to write it down somewhere.

As you know the name of this blog is paintersgarden but I'm not sure that I've really explained why I call it that.

For me the gardening and the art are so connected and intertwined that it's hard to tell which really came first. It all seems to sprout up together which gave me the idea for a painting where the garden tools, fruit, veggies and flowers all sprout out of the ground along with paintbrushes, pencils and paintings.

I can't wait to get back to it and I'll post pictures as soon as I take a break from adding some paint

Easy Chair Berry Picking

 Just because the berries are growing low to the ground doesn't mean that you have to pick them there. I clipped these branches from the black raspberry bush and took them to a table in the shade so I could sit back and relax while I picked the berries.

A messy garden, weeding and wildflowers

 There are a lot of messy areas in my garden but I started here because the vines had followed the electrical cord to the socket. (Somehow having an old van plugged in for a YEAR (the battery won't hold a charge) was NOT part of my garden plan). I moved 3 planters off this area before I took this picture and then I got busy weeding and cleaning the area out. Now Lucky me can see the reel of  orange electric cord that my husband keeps plugged in here. There are a lot of things you can't control in your garden...

 In the front border the lemon lilies we moved this year are doing well.

 Here's the latest photo of that wildflower border I planted earlier this season.

 Here's another view of that front border.

Yes, that's the hose draped over that bench. The outlet hose on my rain barrel popped off and emptied it so for the first time in YEARS I've had to use city water. We fixed the barrel and I'm hoping I can get back to using it soon. It's more work but a lot cheaper than paying a big water bill.

Back to work on the latest painting

Hot, sweaty and happy in the garden

The temp is only 80 here but I'm not used to the heat when I'm cutting back brush in the back yard, watering the front garden and sharing a few plants with a neighbors. ( 2 climbing roses and a fern)
I didn't get any painting done today but some of the yellow lilies started blooming and I hope to get to those tomorrow.

Painting daisies in the garden

Fresh Floral Painting

Sights and Sounds

It's sunny with a light breeze,the windows are open and the birds are singing. It would be perfect except for the sound of traffic going by and after a while I won't hear that.
When I'm painting everything else ceases to exist in my world. I'm not sure that all artists work with such intensity and passion but it's as natural for me as breathing.
Being able to do it here, outdoors is a great change of pace. My husband says that people stare as they go by but I really don't care, people have always thought I was weird and they're right but I don't care about that either. There's just this moment and the way I feel as I work, nothing else matters right now.

Sunny with a breeze and raspberry jam

The weather improved and I went out to pick more black raspberries. There have been quite a lot of them this week so I decided to make jam. Anyone who knows me would see the humor in this because I haven't even attempted anything like this in about 20 years.

 The old recipe is just equal parts of berries and sugar. You mash the berries with a potato masher and bring them to boiling before adding the sugar, then you just cook it until it thickens.

 I just make tiny batches I'm likely to use right away rather than making a big job of it and having to get out canning supplies. I keep a small amount in the fridge and put the rest in the freezer. I don't plan to keep the stuff in the fridge very long so I don't see a problem with doing it that way.

It looks like rain today

Oh well, it's about time I spend some time indoors getting things cleaned and organized before I start painting again. I drew all over my mail but I guess that really can't be considered art. Who cares? It was fun and both the mail carriers and the people getting the letters enjoy it.
I sat down at my work table to sort things out and was soon bored with that and started "playing " with my mail.
I'll probably go to work and design some products on Zazzle. There are so many other artists there that it's hard to compete and make sales. Every time you draw or paint a flower you know there are hundreds or thousands of peoples own versions or styles of them. It makes getting people to choose yours a big challenge.

More work on the new garden painting

Painting today's picks from the garden

Painting Today

It's sunny and around 70 degrees so I'm planning to take that "dishes" painting out into the garden and begin painting some of the latest blooms and berries on it as china patterns.
I'll have a bit more coffee as I round up my supplies.
There's a lot of traffic this morning but I'll hardly notice it once I get started on the painting. That's one of the lovely things about doing the things you really love. Intensity, focus and passion can be a vacation of sorts from the rest of your day. If I'd ever chosen a career I think I'd have gone into art therapy because I know first hand how good it is for your heart, soul and spirit and I'd like to be able to share that with people.
Who knows, it wouldn't hurt to look into the training needed. I may get around to it yet...

Happy Hosta

 As you can see, the hosta is blooming here...at least this variety is. The all green ones bloom later and have different colored flowers on them.

 You get a better idea of the size of this when you see it with the chair sitting next to it.  (Keep in mind  the planter box that they're in is one foot tall.)

I got a bit distracted just now as the local marching band just went past my house as they practice for upcoming parades. It's one of the things I like about this city is that it's still small town enough to stop traffic long enough to allow this sort of thing and of course I had to laugh because they were twirling flags and playing "Funky Town". Who ever thought old disco tunes would be today's band music? Sometimes life is just SO funny...

Outdoor Living

 As you can imagine, this looks much nicer with cushions and pillows 

 I'm still waiting for that wildflower border to brighten things up.

Raspberries

 It's hard to describe the size of these bushes (3 of them planted in a 4 x 4 foot raised planter box 1 foot tall) unless you notice the size of the wood pile behind it)

 The bushes on this side of the yard weren't quite ripe yet so we decided to check the other side of the yard.

 We weren't even planning to grow any here!

Guess what I'm having for lunch...