LILY PADS

Spent the year taking care of my husband until he died from cancer late October.  With the support of my marvelous family and friends, I will now get back into blogging and posting images on my flickr account.

This is one of the 'LITTLE GEMS' series I created throughout the summer, as it was easier to paint small (5 or 7 inches only) and still be available for Clive. Eight of these works have just been hung in the Picturecraft Gallery in Holt, Norfolk for the Christmas show.

After some six weeks since I picked up a brush, I hope to get back to creating having attended a wonderful two days at Sue Williams cottage earlier this week working in the Fauvre style - just what I needed 'bright, bright, psychedelic unnatural colours, ie green skies and torquoise buildings!! '

ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN

I needed cheering up with the cold and snow and now miserable rain out there, so decided to create a typical English summer garden for myself. Washed colours of acrylic ink onto a sheet of Lana Vanguard and then had fun playing and layering!! How many plants can you name????

PAINTING IN THE GARDEN IN INDIAN SUMMER

Although turned into October yesterday, we are having such lovely weather I have been painting in the garden, still full of colour and blooms.

GERANIUMS IN A POT

Here is the pot of colourful geraniums in the corner of my garden near the little garden house, showing the Japanese anemone in the background in the raised flower bed and part of the lavender by the side of the paving. Sketched in the sunshine in the garden the other day with Helen.

...... and then I painted it close up again as a full watercolour in the garden yesterday.

PENSTEMON IN GARDEN
Here is a quick study of a penstemon in my garden sketchbook. Although tall and lanky spikes the blooms are so delicate.

Plan to put colour to my pen sketch of the full right hand flower bed showing the penstemon, the trunk of the chopped tree which allowed me to plant more flowers there this year, the peony tree, dahlia, californian poppies, phlox, orange large poppy heads, petunias and an acer. Too big to scan, so I'll photo it after adding the colour and post it then.

FRONT GARDEN AND GATE

Seem to have had nothing but rain this August, so sat in the front sun room doorway and sketched our garden gate leading out to the lane. Afraid the lamp on the higher parking area is a bit out of proportion - but oh so useful as you park up in the dark when it comes on automatically.

Also sketched the hanging basket on the garage wall, alongside the gate.

Both in my columbine second garden sketchbook of course, making a double spread.

PAINTING THE GARDEN ON TWO RAINY DAYS

On Thursday last week when Philippa came to join me painting we could not go out into the garden because it was raining 'cats and dogs', so I drew the archway through the rain splattered window. The clematis had twined itself around the archway and then the hanging basket !!

I added the iris to the border because at the bottom of the right upright to the arch is the start of our little pond with these lovely soft pinky lavender iris in bloom.

Then I fancied doing another sketch in the garden a couple of days later when I had the afternoon to while away but - yes again - it was raining. So this view of our water feature was painted looking through the sunroom windows.

Needless to say they were both sketched in my lovely Columbine covered garden sketchbook.

MY NEW DATURA PLANT

During spring planting time I was looking for some exotic plants and came across this DATURA deep purple with lime green member of the Bragmansia family. This one, unlike an earlier posting of Angel Trumpets which has its blooms hanging down, has them growing upwards to the light.

I decided to sketch them yesterday, sitting at the bottom of a garden lounger so I could get on a level with the blooms rather than peering down from my little patio area. It wasn't until I had nearly finished, that I realised the sky had gone really dark and there was thunder and lightening drawing near and I was feeling cold in my summery top and skirt!

Needless to say, they were sketched and painted into my new Columbine garden sketchbook. Here are the left and right side of my second double spread.

... and try to imagine this watercolour alongside on the right hand side of the book:

The dirty pages are from balancing my watercolour palette on the page as I worked on my knee!!

FIRST DOUBLE SPREAD IN MY NEW GARDEN SKETCHBOOK

We often sketch flowers from the garden when my ladies group meet on Thursdays. Last week I picked this little spray of what I think is an Alexandra rose climbing over my little corrner wooden garden house to use for my first sketch in my new Columbine covered sketchbook I showed in a recent posting. My watercolours were just perfect for those petal washes of soft peach tones.

I did this little second sketch with Stabilo 45 brown fine liner pen to show where the Alexandra roses were climbing. It makes a lovely double spread with the roses on the first page of my new sketchbook. There are a couple of garden chairs up there, but they made it too complicated and difficult!! As you can tell, I simply used my waterbrush to spread some of the water soluble ink from these Stabilo soluble pen lines - it took seconds!.

SECOND GARDEN FLOWER SKETCHBOOK

Here is the last flower sketch in my garden sketchbook I started way back in July 2008 a year after we moved to Coltishall. I have sketched some 32 double spreads of plants growing throughout the season over the past 3 years. It seems my plan of a sketch per month has not been far off but with some months more prolific than others.




I ordered a second book from Karen Jenkins in the same format of 7" square with Sanders Waterford paper and coptic binding but this time chose the COLUMBINE (what we know as Aqualegia) fabric for the cover. So saying farewell to my old book I added these pen sketches at the very back as an introduction to what was to come.

Here is the lovely new book, all pristine and fresh awaiting my bravery of starting anew. Afraid all our aqualegia plants have gone over now, but may still use photos to sketch them on the first page. It somehow seems appropriate.

PEONIES IN THE GARDEN

Philippa came round yesterday for an afternoon painting session and it was so lovely we went into the garden to paint the beautiful soft pink peonies that were blooming.

Here's the result of my effort in my garden sketchbook of flowers. I hope the new sketchbook ordered from Chalk Hill Studios arrives soon as I only have one page left!

Here's Philippa working in the bright sunlight with borrowed sunhat.

and here is how the bloom developed today after lots more strong sunshine.

ANOTHER MAGIC GARDEN PAINTING

As it seems such a long time since posting the sketch of the London Fireworks on the first day of the year, I looked round to find something to post. I've been working on some more MAGIC GARDEN pieces for a Spring show and dug out this VIEW OF THE TREES from my store cupboard to bring back to life.

I don't think you have ever seen this particular one I was not too pleased with, so I added lots of my gutta shiny glissening paint usually used on silk to give it some oomph and played with the treeline. I also took my own advice about 'more darks' and think the outcome is much improved.

please enlarge to see the effect of the shine.

VIEW ACROSS THE BORDER

You may remember an earlier post at the beginning of December when I had started a second acrylic piece to go with my AFTER THE RAIN. Well, I have finished it choosing hollyhocks and irises as my main flowers, so maybe you'd like to check back and see how it started because here is the finished VIEW ACROSS THE BORDER:

In case it does not enlarge, I add some closeups of areas of the flower border.

I am pleased with the result and it makes a good contrast to the AFTER THE RAIN garden piece both 76 x 61 cms canvas. I have some moulding of a silvery bronze box frame about 4 cms wide and will ask David (local framer gallery owner) if he could use that for me.

Now I must work on my second MAGIC GARDEN 41 x 41 c ms to deliver all by the end of January to be transported to Normandy.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

WORK IN PROGRESS

After many weeks not painting any main work, I felt the need to get away from sketchbooks and practicing for Italy, so decided I needed a second acrylic work to pair with my AFTER THE RAIN on 76 x 61 cms canvas. I had a rummage through many references from my photos to previous paintings to get ideas and then just got out my varied acrylics from both Liquitex heavy and soft body to Liquitex ink, a one inch Pro Arte acrylic brush and simply wacked on diagonal streaks of blue and white paint across what might become the sky area. Then filled the area below in shades of blues, greens and naples, with a few ideas for distant trees and flower borders in the front.

To date it has arrived at this, by which time I had decided to soften the blue of the sky, use the same hue for irises in the foreground and reduce the width area of the left and right flower borders.

Working backwards, here are some images showing the transitions as I worked without any particular ref in mind, apart from the shapes of the tall hollyhocks on the left.

Here you can see the earlier darker more vibrant sky I obliterated and the wider borders I removed.

I think this was the first photo I took, simply to remind myself how I had begun.

Where it now takes me I have no idea after the best part of a week away, but it certainly contrasts well with the original painting I wish to pair it with shown below, which you may remember from a much earlier posting.

NANNY'S GARDEN POEM

Nanny's garden - a beautiful place

Like a dream

Like a fairytale

It brightens the day

It brightens our way

The sun upon nanny's garden

This little verse was written by my youngest grand daughter (aged 11 yrs) when she and her sister stayed with us for a weekend recently. Elisha has always liked 'playing' with figures and words and we often make up games together. This time it was to give her a title and for her to produce a few lines in less than 5 minutes. We happen to be sitting in the sun room when I mentioned my garden and out popped these wonderful words in no time at all.

We had some magic this past week or two as I had almost given up on my planted cosmos that just seem to grow taller and taller as the summer came and went and could almost be entered into the Guineas book of records for their giant height. Not until now in October have they decided to bloom - three colours and at least thirty blooms out all at once with many a bud awaiting. So here's a couple of photos, both taken through my bedroom window. In one you can just see the village church down the hill over the rooftops.

Elisha nearly broke my heart when she wrote the following for the subject of family:

Family are forever

Family stay together

We love

We care

The sky never dull

The sky always bright

We see brightness

We see darkness

but whatever happens

we stay together.

Unusual posting but just had to share them with you. Hope Elisha doesn't mind.

WEEKEND AT WELLS NEXT THE SEA

Been catching up at home since returning from 3 wonderful days at Wells next the Sea at Sandra's cottage, coinciding with the week long carnival. Sandra, our host, had to pop off two mornings to invigilate at the local art exhibition and we both went over to Kings Lynn on the Saturday afternoon, leaving Anita happily sketching around the quayside and cottage garden.

Here you can see how beautifully Sandra has revamped her cottage in lovely soft blues and creams. We sat round the fireplace from time to time just chatting together before and after visiting the carnival musical evening events. We had fun singing along with an amazingly good live Beatles sound alike band and even had a temporary tattoo each from a little teddy bear, stars and (of course for me) a group of three flowers. Here is the comfy sofa .......

Got up fairly early for me and spent time in the garden sketching. All the fruit trees were laden with quince, damsons, apples and pears. Here's a little group of apples sketched whilst eating my breakfast of croissant with real butter and Wensleydale cheese and cranberries and cup of coffee .....

.... and here's something that grabbed me from the first day - the contrast between the colourful boats stored at the bottom of the garden seen through the black wrought iron gate.....

Planned to sketch little objects in the garden in a double spread, but only managed this stone chimey pot acting as a plinth for a bowl of found very round stones placed in front of another apple tree on the other side of the brick pathway that divides the garden and runs right up to the cottage door.

Really pleased how much I sketched despite our various outings. Down to serious stuff now, preparing three water colour works for the NOVA Sherringham event in October under the theme of Reflections.

PASTELS

Sorry, not visited your blogs of late - have been so so busy with art and family. Now have my brother and wife staying with us for a week and today after visiting our village pub by the river for a carvery lunch, the men watched the (recorded) grand prix and Gaynor and I sat in the sun room. Ha, Ha - wherever is the sun nowadays.

Gaynor was knitting for friends new baby so I got out my pastel set and began to sketch the flower arrangement that includes some of our pink hydrangeas from the garden. Gaynor says it took hour and a half from start to finish. Quite gentle and a most enjoyable time, especially as I have not painted for ages.

As I have posted this floral pastel, thought I would add the early stages (as far as I got) of another pastel sketch. This time of a section of my garden when my ladies came for our summer garden sketch day together. Nowhere near finished of course.

Ron and Gaynor are going home on Thursday and then I go off to Sandra's cottage by the sea for a sketching weekend together. Hopefully will have something worthwile to post when I get back.

very busy - so here's my garden!!

At last summer has arrived and we are basking in warm sunshine - correction - hot sunshine!! This is a corner of our rear garden with packed herbacious border leading up to the little gardenhouse with steps up to chairs and table - a very sunny corner all morning. Great for breakfast coffee and toast.

The garden parasol Clive bought me last May was made of wooden poles and has been a real pain with the struts breaking, so we ordered a posh new Acamp metal one that tilts and also has a crank handle. It arrived this morning and here I am already in its shade reading a super book about Queen Elizabeth's childhood - just popped in for a cool glass of sparkling rose delivered this afternoon by our dear neighbours to celebrate our 51st anniversay this weekend!! .

I've had winter pansies all through the darker months and now they are blooming their little hearts out and growing taller and taller in a raised bed full of blues and purples.

I bought these aliums when visiting Amsterdam flower markets some years ago and was able to dig them up and bring them with us for our new garden.

I used to have the most incredible passionflower in my Cherry Trees garden (photo below) , but somehow they don't seem to like this soil at our house in Coltishall. I do so miss these beautiful unusual flowers.

... and finally a view of the front garden steps up to the garden gate passed the garage and flower bed where the lovely big white poppies grow - remember I painted them last summer in my garden sketchbook - and they are just coming out.

Sorry have not been posting of late or visiting/commenting your own , but have been very busy creating a new commission 20" x 44" entitled Springtime in the Woods to make a trio with my Summer and Autumn acrylic paintings on canvas. Thanks DJ for your concern , but all is well just a busy bee!!

VISIT FROM ANITA AND MAGIC GARDEN SERIES

Completed Magic Garden Series No: VIII - Garden Pond

16" x 16" box canvas acrylic

Just had four lovely days of Anita's company here in the Broads of Norfolk. We had two whole days out visiting wonderful local beauty spots sketching and lunching out together in the sunshine. Her work is wonderful and made my so called sketches look so poor I am not even going to post them to you!!!! Do go over to see what she achieved with her Alphonse Sketchbook with scenes from my home and plein air work at Horning and Reepham in her 'visit to Joannie's sketchbook' at http://artbyanita.blogspot.com/ .

On Sunday we stayed at home sorting, planning and chatting and I asked Anita for her opinion on three of my magic garden series for a summer show, which some children visiting an exhibition last year called THE LUMPY PAINTINGS because of their many layers of thick paint!! One I had never really liked so never exhibited and after a really helpful critique, went to my little studio room and made many adjustments. Below are two stages of the changes after checking some iris reference photos taken at my friend's garden pond when I realised I had originally painted cultivated garden blooms that would not grow by water:

Decided the left looked unbalanced so added a further yellow iris slightly duller in the shaded corner:

The final adjustment can be seen in the finished piece at the top, which came about by me having coffee in the sunroom this morning with Clive and noticing the pale blue sky dropping right down between the trunks of the trees in the corner of the garden. I feel the uneven line of the blue pond I have now created between the reeds and blooms and the added stronger final yellow layer to the irises really adds to the character of the work. Do you approve Anita?

MORE GARDEN FLOWER SKETCHBOOK PAGES

As promised, here are some more pages from my garden sketchbook of spring flowers making their annual arrival. For this little group of purple crocus opening in the morning sun I used quite a free composition with pen followed by watercolour washes. A little bit of splattering finished it off...... and here's how it looks as a double spread in the sketchbook with a few notes and colour swatches.

In the same flower bed were some snowdrops still out in bloom alongside both yellow and purple crocus. I again tackled the main sketch with random pen marks, followed up by watercolour washes and spontaneous marks to bring it together. Then decided to have fun on the double spread by putting the golden crocus inside a border of stylized snowdrops to the left of the main study.

Seems being laid up at home for a few days during the first of the Spring sunshine has proved quite useful to get my garden sketchbook going again. I noticed a group of little violets yesterday against the stone wall, alongside a violet flower pot with pale lemon daffodils. Think it will make a lovely little study over the weekend.