Fun with garden photos, pencil, ink and card making

Garden Tea

We went out for tea in the garden today and I noticed  there were more pea pods to pick so I put them on my saucer. When I'd finished drinking my tea I figured I'd pick a bit of lettuce for a salad too.

It looked so cute that I couldn't resist taking some pictures to make note cards with and maybe use as an idea to do a painting of.

I shot the photos on several different backgrounds to see which way they'd look best.

I don't know why but this image really appeals to me and I think other people will like it too.

I was just talking to a cousin on the phone and told her what I was doing and she thought it was odd so apparently it won't appeal to everyone.

It still won't stop me from exploring the possibilities... and enjoying a good salad.

Sunflowers and Lilies

A few flowers from the garden

Yes, my "studio" today is actually the dining room table which as it happens is a really nice place to work. It's one of the reasons I work more in watercolor and pencil in these days. There just isn't room in a tiny house for acrylics on large canvases so it's a dream for another day.

I thought I'd start with a couple of lazy watercolors and drawings as I  decide how I want to approach these today. This one was on an envelope and went out in the afternoon mail.

The weather was 88 degrees and pretty muggy here so we decided to take the flowers indoors where it's cooler to work on them.

There were only 3 daisies this year so I plan to plant more next year.

Lemon Lilies from Mom

One of the best things about a garden is the legacy created when people you love share their favorite plants with you and you get to share them with others as they continue to grow and spread. 

I love these pretty, yellow lilies and have them in three areas of the garden now. I started them here with about a dozen plants from my Mom's garden several years ago and have given away nearly that many in the last couple of years.

  I plan to base a series of paintings and drawings on these photos this winter  I'd like to work with the fresh flowers but I have too many other projects going on right now

Sunday in the City Garden

The neighborhood is quiet on the weekend as a lot of people head out of town. It's lovely to have the place more or less to myself with more bird song than traffic noises.

I grabbed my coffee and crocheting and headed out the door to enjoy the morning and beat the heat on a 90+ degree day. The morning was cool and breezy and as it began to warm up we picked lettuce, purple dragon baby carrots and and onion to make salads with for lunch. Dessert was a coffee cake made from the raspberries we picked in the back yard.

A garden gives you good food but more than that, it gives you a sense of accomplishment too.

Tomorrow I plan to get back to drawing and painting the flowers again.

In between all of that I'm also carving and sanding more Dala horses so they'll be ready to paint this winter and I won't have to have sawdust or wood chips in the house anymore.

Later in the day as I was relaxing in the house I finished crocheting that potholder and worked on a hat a bit.

There's something really satisfying about being to make and grow the things I need and takes a bit of pressure off me to sell things to get by.

A little cash would be nice but I'm content either way.

Raspberry Days

Every morning we pick fresh raspberries and put them out for sale. Washed and ready to eat in  tiny dishes with silver plastic spoons for anyone passing by on the way to the lake.

There haven't been any takers so each day I think of something else to do with them. Yesterday I put them up in little containers for the freezer. Today I made a couple of jars of jam and had fresh berries on a waffle with whipped cream.

I may just take tomorrow off. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

Oh well, I made today fun and cooked the jam up in the yard instead of trying to cope with my tiny kitchen.

It's funny how people look the other way and just don't see you when you're in a wheelchair. It's like my superpower, I'm pretty much invisible here and can do whatever I want without anyone saying anything about it.

Afternoons in the garden,milkweed, hosta and painting

 We let a lot of milkweed grow here for the butterflies.

We divide and move hosta every year and it never disappoints. The color and the flowers are always a welcome change in any part of the yard.

 Most days in this part of the summer we keep both the work table and the tea table in the shade of the front garden where it's handy if anyone stops to visit or just to see what we're working on around here.

Lettuce

Changing the Background the Sunflower Painting

I've had a blue background on this painting for a couple of years and never thought too much about it but my painted sunflowers on a red background are my best sellers on Zazzle so I thought I'd paint a red background on this and see how I like it as a greeting card. If that works out for me I may try it on some other merchandise as well.

Having considered that and the fact that i've got other Sunflowers on Zazzle I think I'll try this one on cafe press and see how it goes.

Either way I think I'll enjoy the change and maybe others will too. So far it looks like it's going to take 2 or 3 coats to cover the red but I can't wait to see the results, can you?

As well as changing the color of the background I also added more stems, leaves and flower petals. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks in natural daylight tomorrow. I may be able to get better photos then.

Art in the garden

Yellow Garden , Lily and Sunflower