Between projects and thinking of you

 Hello there,

I am sorry that I've been away from you so long this time. It's inexcusable except for the facts that often after painting intensely for a while I find that I'm running on empty and need a certain amount of time to rest and recover.

Once I've gotten a bit of rest and sleep I head to my garden and of course anything can happen there.

The first thing we did was get back to building that large planter box from salvaged building supplies.

Everyone in the garden came to watch.

Except me, this was the view I enjoyed as I tipped my reclining wheelchair back to supervise.

This guy, designed it, built it, insulated, lined it and put siding on the outside of it to match the house.

The reason he insulated it is because Minnesota winters can be unpredictable and I'm growing several special varieties of strawberries in it.

There was also a bit of entertaining. Where better to do it these days than in a garden.

I'll skip listing the number and type of events unless some of you request it. Now, back to the actual garden.

All of the sedum in the front and side yards came from one plant I bought about 15 years ago. It's amazing how much it increases if you divide and move it often. it's an important consideration when choosing and purchasing new plants.

I didn't even wait until the planter was completely finished before I started putting the strawberry seedlings into it. I'm very excited about this project!

The tomatoes were a disappointment and the beets failed but the marigolds did well.

During bad weather there's always drawing or working on the indoor plants. This project started with a favorite garden photo that I took a few years ago.

I did this one with water color but I'm still not happy with the results, each time I  try it, it gets a bit better, as do I. someday it will turn out just the way I want it to, this simply wasn't it

As usual, I do love to spend my spare time "playing" with markers and watercolors  to decorate my letters.

This was a fun project. The image on the left was from a sheet of postage stamp which had it's own adhesive so it was easy to apply to a scrap of water color paper. I did a little gouache painting that I could use as a bookmark if I wanted.

Here's some mail again.

Painting Outdoors

I'm so sorry those dumpsters are in the way. I keep trying to find a way to block them from view.

 

This visit was a chance to show one of my sister's the paintings I'd been working on the last few Months. She'd seen photos but that's just not the same experience as seeing the texture and everything in person.

Excuse the extra pictures here. I just haven't figured out how to remove them yet.

It seems that every time I get used to the way things work the tech people change them.

I hope that everything is running smoothly for you. I'd like your reading experience to be a pleasant one.

 Sometimes get togethers are just to visit, sometimes we paint our own things, occasionally we choose a project and as this time, sometimes we just evaluate the results.

The important thing is to encourage each other and keep the creativity coming.

Celebrating My Veggie Garden

 I often have tea in the garden and on this day I decided to pick a few things for lunch on the way back to the house so I just stuck them in my teacup and saucer and loved the look of it so much that I decided to paint it to remember the day by.

I started by taking a photo to work on after we'd eaten our salads for lunch.

oops!! I tried to
delete this.

I tried drawing and painting it in several types of media but I found eventually that watercolor worked best.

I'm trying to find the photos of the other attempts I made to capture this image I'll add them as soon as I can find them.

I keep the photo handy because I'm sure that I can do a better job of it eventually but this one will have to do for now.

A New Look to the Garden

I love this hosta border along my path from the house to the garden.

Here are a few small pots of marigolds to brighten things up into the fall.  I always try to time things so there is always something new to look forward to.

The mobile flower bed is full of broccoli and strawberries now.

It's difficult to see in this photo but there's a lovely mix of yellow, orange and purple in this flower bed.

The orange lilies are a sure sign that summer is nearly over.

It's amazing how much the garden changes each time one of the other flowers bloom. Now that the whites of the lily of the valley and violas have stopped blooming we're treated to a show of yellow and purple with the lilies and hosta.

The Lemon Lilies are blooming now, they were a gift from my Mother and make me smile all over again each year they come back.

Down the Rabbit Hole Again/Changing Styles

A second 12 by 12 inch abstract painting:

 A nice easy start with a few basic colors.

Defining a few areas of bolder colors.

A few images of my favorite things.

Sometimes it helps to see it from a different angle.

Still don't know where this is going but am enjoying
the ride anyway.

 Still conflicted between the abstract painting and the little landscapes I've been doing so they begin to merge together.

 When I came to this house I had over 90 paintings that I had painted over the years. I've gotten rid of most of them so i could make a fresh start.

It felt so good to finish this. I feel that it really sums up how much I love my flowers and garden as well as the birds who come for he rose hops and the raspberries. We all love the garden an stop by for lunch whenever we can.

The Latest Floral

The canvas used for this was one of the ones left over from my last session of abstract painting.

I kept the abstract on the 12 x 12 inch and used the 8 x 10 for this. The 5 x 7 became a tiny painting of my front flower bed.

After I painted the first few flowers, I placed the centers for the next few flowers so that I could check the placement of them.

I wasn't sure about the top left corner of the painting so I placed a leaf over the blank spot, but I didn't like that either.

One more daisy solved the problem nicely.