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

37 degrees and rain

It's cool and rainy in the garden so I'm indoors with a hot cup of cider with a cinnamon stick in it.
I had errands to run so I picked up a little spinning flower that I found in Target and put it in a planter full of hosta in the front garden. I enjoy watching the wind hit it and wish I'd have been able to buy a whole armful. The other thing that caught my eye were metal yard decorations in the shape of the pinwheels we all played with as kids--I wanted them in every color! What fun!

 I put that flower in a pot of hosta, it should be really pretty soon.

 I made myself comfortable while cleaning out around the lilac bushes.

Well, I suppose it's time to settle down and get back to work. I hope you've found a bright spot and a bit of fun in your day too.

Garden update

Today's big excitement was finding out that one of the lilac bushes that I moved last year is going to have flowers this season. I got busy with the roses and haven't had time to check the rest of the lilacs yet.
It's sunny but cool so I'm still attempting to transplant a few things that have popped up in the wrong places. Yes, there's a lot of that around here. Oh well, it keeps me out of trouble and of course keeps my mind off my troubles as well.
Whenever you don't find me playing in the dirt I'm covered with paint. I'm a messy girl and happy that way-how about you?

Time Sure Flies

The day shot by fast but I did manage to finish this working off and on in between other projects. Sorting out the worktable seems to be the most important thing these days as I need more space to work on.

I made an interesting discovery as we went back to work making repairs on that back building. For some reason a couple of pieces of painted furniture I'd started years ago ended up in there so we rescued them and are in the process of cleaning them now. I've decided to sand and repaint at least one of them so it's a good thing I had cleared more work space. Isn't it great when things come together?

Pointless

 I looked out the window a while and tried to decide what to work on today.

 Yes, I went back to my little pointillism experiment it seems like a perfect next step from the painted furniture I was doing with dots in the 1990's.

The Devil is in the Details

 When I can't quite decide where a painting is going, I step back and grab my camera.

 Taking detail photos of various sections of a painting can help you look at it in new ways.

 Some bits look more promising than others but I've already got a number of ideas to pursue when I go back to work.

This shot was a bit too close up to be useful for much other than an indication of how heavily textured the painting is so far.

Not tonight, Julia

Well, by the time I got to the restaurant they'd already bought the pieces they needed and my paintings sat at home "all dressesed up and no place to go". These things happen (Especially to gals like me) but I did make some interesting discoveries, the best of which is that I am making progress. In the last 7 years I've managed to get rid of HALF of the paintings I arrived with(In case you're wondering about numbes I've got 44 left in various stages of completion). I've sold a few, donated some for auction, given lots away, painted over a few and destroyed enough to vent a bit of frustration now and then so I'm managing to get out of my own way and starting to feel like creating some new things so I'm feeling pretty good about it anyway. In our own ways we all "make the best of things" and these days I get a kick out of the fact that it's in style again-don't you?