Thursday, December 18, 2008
Beauty and magic takes a lot of work
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Finally
For two years I have ignored my old website. It was still tied to the nursery in Virginia and just soooo out of date. Finally this week I dove into the land of website building and powered through the resizing of photo's to be Internet friendly for your easy loading...and learning to use the software. So, no painting this week, but I did manage a new creation after all. Gardensofdelight.info has been reborn. Take a look if you like and let me know of improvements I can make.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Hibernating
We have had quite a cold season for the end of Fall. So we are hibernating. Days are now spent feasting on Thanksgiving leftovers, reading and being generally lazy. I have enjoyed cleaning up the house, rearranging things and finally, I have a studio in the basement.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Snowing and Blowing
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
'Hope'But there should be -love-hope-faith-honor and chastity.Truth like a white winged dove-should reign supreme.Love next-faith and faithfulness; walk hand in hand.Beauty and contentment_ in close communion.If unselfishness were the ruling Monarch, the whole earth and the people on it_ the beauty of it would completely out rival the brightness of the sun_ where no cloud could ever hide.But Selfishness has blackened the whole world.Winnie, as folks seemed to have called her in her younger yearswas a radical in her day. She wasn't a baptist. My mother recalled having rocks thrown at them as they walked down the street because of this. There are many rants in her journal on this subject, especially after a minister stops by unannounced hoping for dinner, for whom she killed and cooked a chicken, though he was behaving strangely.She wonders if he has some deep trouble which is the cause of his peculiar manner, writing 'No matter_the world is full of people in trouble. I wanted to be kind but I fear I failed.'She didn't think much of organized religion. Though most of her writing is spiritual in nature.She questioned whether he was a landmark baptist, or a convention man. Whatever he told her, she was not convinced. "He left just like he came_without warning", she writes.I look at her photo, yellowed, she is sitting on the floor listening to the Victrola. Hair gone wild. Of the hundreds of photo's I have seen of her, this is her only hippie shot. My sister Vanna inherited her hair for sure.She looks much more together in this one with her daughter, my grandmother, Aubrey.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The next Generation
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Everyday is an adventure
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Ike
You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.
Hal Borland
I gathered with the High Country Water media Society for a workshop on Daring Color with Ann Abgot.
It was great, no politics, beautiful weather.....and I produced my first still life. I removed myself from the stress of hurricanes and the state of the world.
Great works of art are never produced in a workshop, but so much is learned. You can see my notes scribbled in the sidelines. The drawing was done in a hurry, I need to learn so much more about shadows and backgrounds, but this workshop was a big growth spurt for me.
As always I am inspired by the workshops offered by this amazing group of artists. I am now inspired to look for little silver vases in the thrift shops. Ann does a great job of sharing her technique and is so worth attending her workshops if one gets a chance.
I did notice the people who had already worked through her book had an easier time putting the info into practice.
Finn hates workshop days. It is the only time I ever leave him in the house all alone for a full day.
I made up for it on Sunday and took him for a long morning swim at Wilson's Creek. No one there, the summer crowds are gone. Finn looked like a sea otter swimming in the clear cold water. The moss on the rocks in full bloom from last weeks rain added more beauty to the scene.
I tried to sketch while there but Finn kept shaking water onto the sketchbook after delivering his retrieved stick. He came home tired and very happy. I had the rest of the day to mow, do laundry and finish up the workshop painting.
I love weekends!
Friday, September 5, 2008
End of Summer Projects
It is matted, framed and ready to send off to Iowa where they now live. Just in time for Heather's birthday.
I have some beautiful compost from all the leaves I collected in the fall, ready to mulch my beds with for winter. It is also time to get the bulb orders made for clients. People are asking for designs and I have a big fern and native woodland plant order coming in soon. We were just waiting for the rains to come.
Thanks to all the hurricanes it looks to be a beautiful fall coming up. The fall planting season begins! We have a lot to accomplish in the next few months. That's OK, we are ready.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Bounty Season
I arrived home to the harvest season. Celebrating with large pots of gumbo, tomato sandwiches with whole leaves of basil and fresh mozzarella on crusty ciabatta, and an out this world squash casserole that my friend Carol recommended, with her recommended additions of peppers and such. Yum! I harvested a beautiful bag of carrots this week that will go into a batch of samosas, as will some potato's dug last month. The samosas, frozen and reheated make such a simple, delicious meal after a long day of work. I am addicted to the cilantro chutney I dip them in.