My garden is the opposite of a formal garden. The plants that are growing are either volunteers or tough additions. I grow a variety of native plants as well as european immigrants, like my own ancestors. Foxglove has been in my yard for as long as I’ve lived here, and I’ve never planted it. The delphinium is something I planted four years ago. The orange poppies have happily reproduced for at least 20 years. In every season, something else in my yard glows. Birds, bees, and butterflies love this place.
Rose
double orange poppy
Sometimes I wonder why I keep painting flowers, and then I think of what Georgia O’Keeffe said:
“I hate flowers – I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move.”
Georgia O’Keeffe
While I don’t exactly hate flowers, she had a point. It’s much easier to find flowers to paint than people, they are certainly easier to deal with, and you don’t have to pay them. All of that is true. They are excellent studies for the mechanics of painting watercolors. And a bonus, they are colorful. So I paint flowers. And this spring, they are absolutely everywhere. Enjoy.
Hiding in the shadows in the Tallahassee neighborhood I stay in can be found these tiny purple flowers. They are a triumph of geometry and color. And each one lasts only one day. Anyone cultivating them? This 5″ x 7″ painting is for sale, $50.00.
There is literally nothing that has as much presence and majesty in northern Florida than the Live Oak trees. In the glittering sunshine they stand tall, with their upper leaves touching the clouds and their limbs an inky black. Surely in the days before air conditioning, sitting under one of these would save your life. I continued to do studies on a tree near where I was staying, this is the most recent. It’s a 5 x 7″ painting and is for sale. $50.00 buys this.
