My Happy Volunteers

My vegetable garden is always a happy place because it's chock full of self-seeded flowers. Poppies, calendula and borage in this sketch. But also nigella (love-in-a-mist), evening primrose, johnny jump ups and rose mallow in other parts of the garden.  It's a riot of happy colors. I meticulously weed, dead head, water and tend the volunteers, almost daily, while much of the rest of the yard goes to ruin. Hmmm. . . .

Also, I did a rare direct watercolor sketch! Always a challenge for me to get a good sketch without using ink. I'm happy with the results in this one.

Hobbit House

Hobbit House, woods and water

This is the view I chose to sketch yesterday.  I love the integration of the home within its garden and the surrounding woods.  The view of the water isn't too bad either! ;-)

In Pat's Garden

Pat has a delightful garden, full of things to see, sketch and enjoy. No one can figure out how she keeps  up with the plants and still has time to paint. Magic? I didn't want to paint green, Green GREEN again so I scouted around until I found a view that was full of color. Greens, yes, but a whole variety of shades, from lime to deep forest. Also a Japanese maple that was deep wine with bright vermillion, a basket of geraniums with something blooming blue, and some far off irises. There was even a sweet little birdhouse back at the edge of the forest. Lovely day, lovely setting and another "sketcher's sunburn" for me!

Whidbey Gardening Workshop

Spent yesterday at the annual Whidbey Gardening Workshop put on by Island County Master Gardeners. Tough to stay inside at a workshop on a beautiful warm, sunny day. 

I left inspired, instructed and ready to hit my garden today for the first time since Fall.  But today it's raining.  Hey!  What's with that Mother Nature?

Sketching at the Garden Show

While in Seattle yesterday, I spent the afternoon at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show.

It's a massive annual show at the convention center.  It proved to be a great place for sketching while taking in all the sweet fragrances and colors of the display gardens as well as the bustling activity around all the vendors and plant market. 

I'm afraid I came down with a major case of Spring Fever that may be contagious!

Alsip Art & Bow WA

It was a beautiful day in Bow, Wa. last week and we had such a nice time relaxing by the canal, sketching and drinking wine.  Here are a couple of those sketches and the one I did this past Friday of John Alsip's Garden Lamps.  I hope to sketch more of his work over the winter.

Garden Lamps catch the light

Through the panel to the canal

Garlic

Sketching at the Kane's

This was a fun day, with too much subject matter to choose from.  The goodies were appreciated by all and the coziness of both the guest house and the barn made our day very companionable.  Thank you.

Beautiful repeated color in this garden.

Rooster in the Barn

A Peaceful Afternoon

Thank you, Sue, for sharing your lovely garden with us. And the delicious munchies. And thanks to Mary and Sherryl for their yummy crab dip. I think I ate most of it. Last but not least, sharing it all with great company. I was filled with ahhhhs.
Here's a couple sketches I did on the deck. To the right is the talented Michelle, our newest member. She sat still for awhile which made her an easy target. I look forward to many sketchings with her.







Below is an experimental sketch done on watercolor canvas board. No absorbency whatsoever, so I'm not sure I like it. Hard to do any glazing because the bottom layers pick up so easily. Great for making changes if one's unhappy with parts or all of it. I was interested in giving it a spin as an alternative to the expense of framing watercolor paintings. Surfaces that accept watercolor are available on mounted wood frames similar to oil panels. Once painted, they can be coated with acrylic to protect the surface from dust.