Laurelines

In the garden with pens, paints, (and pruners)

It's total immersion, sun up to moonlight, day after day. Soon it will be too hot. For now, if you need me, look for me there.

Garden sketches...

... where process IS product!

Early morning. Standing in the middle of my flower beds, clutching pen and sketchbook, exhilarated by peonies' exuberant shapes. I am giddy from the sheer joy of making lines on paper. How could I NOT do this---it is such a big part of who I am.

 

So my task is to make paintings that convey as much of the feeling of these drawings as possible. I'm working on it. I'm not there yet.

Artist as gardener, May

These photos are a week old and it's already a different world out there in the garden now. Bloom times of peonies and roses and irises have been almost two weeks early this year. This first flush of flowering is dominated by blues, pinks, purples... it can be glorious and I wanted to share it with you. I DO look forward to the time when the groundcovers in the parterres and on the bank have filled in. We gardeners are, or are supposed to be, a patient and optimistic lot.

The previous photos are of my back garden. This is my front garden, more Mediterranean-inspired, with a palette of white, yellow, blue/purple.

I have not been posting as frequently of late for several reasons:

I've been working in the garden!

I'm in the final stages ( I hope) of dealing with my mother's house and estate matters. This has necessitated frequent trips out of town over the last months.

I've been spending much more time in the painting studio and less time out sketching. This intense interior time (interior in a metaphorical AND literal sense) will give way to a more diverse work agenda in due course.

I'm spending much less time online and more time in the here and now of my life. It's all a question of balance and I'll regain a more active online presence soon. Happy Mother's Day, happy May, happy real life to you!