Tag: patio

Potted

Every year I plant flowers in pots and in the little front garden bed outside the studio window. I let the roses alone along one side of the house, and the glads and fig tree, too. The front bed reseeds itself, and at times I add to it. The side patio, though, is where the fun often is to be found. There are some permanent plants, such as bulbs which return every spring. Then there are herbs and flowers and tomatoes (although not this year). Here are some of the lovelies I have in bloom today.

Red Calla / Easter Lilies
Ixia (?)
Ixia (?)
Sunny Sunflower!
Pansies from Auntie Am
Carnation Variant
Basil, nee Rathbone
A Passel of Orange Lilies
Individual Lily in Bloom
Dianthus, Near and Far and Out-of-Focus
Mandarin or Tangerine on the Tree in a Pot on the Patio

And there you have a few. Some last a long time, others fade away in days. The joy of a garden, the cycle of life, the fragrance of flowers, the hum of bees – add a bit of sun, a good book, a comfy chair and birdsong, and a slice of heaven to be had and held.

Concrete Cucumber

For the past year I had a roll of Fuji Superia 200 loaded into my vintage Welta Weltini camera from the 1930s. It works really well, but the fact is I really don’t like the camera all that much. It’s a 35mm camera, a small folder, and an excruciatingly small viewfinder. It does have a built-in focusing “spot” for lack of a better word, but the reality is that the tiny, tiny viewfinder makes it an extremely awkward camera to use, and it is not a pleasant experience. I think I may decide to sell off some of my collection. I doubt I could make a profit on this, but anyway . . .

Here, a cucumber on my patio this summer. Even though its leaves are not the most healthy looking, it has produced, and continues to produce, very tasty cucumbers. I thought I had planted lemon cucumbers, but these are what came up. Awhile back, I just planted every seed I had left, and there you are. I also planted some vining beans in the same pot. Out of all the seeds I stuck in there, planning to thin them after I could discern what plant was which, only two came up! Both were non-lemon cucumbers. I just water it every day, sometimes twice when it is nearing the 100s or high 90s, and the result is we have been enjoying our small patio crop.

The tiny viewfinder caught my knee in the original scan, so I cropped this to make it a square and did some post processing along the way.

Patio Sketches

Where-oh-where does time go?  I have been busy – so busy – that I have not sat down with a brush or piece of paper in ages it seems.  Sewing socializing, health, family, photography, hiking, knitting – just some of the things taking up my time.  I can’t use cold weather as an excuse.  I’ve been more busy than I am used to – and enjoying all of it.

And yesterday?  The weather was lovely, so out into the dog free zone I went, travel palette, cup of water, a paper towel, water brushes.  The 6×8 Bee paper is perfect for just playing – it’s a decent paper, 100% cotton, and heavy enough to mush a lot of water around on both sides.  I just played, using the daffodils in a vase inside – brought outside – plants on the patio, fruit and vegetables from the kitchen.  I could tell I was rusty – but had fun anyway!

I need to remember my promise to myself when I retired: paint or draw every day! Like a vitamin or a prayer – good for the soul.

Nightmares on the Patio!

We all have those days – everything you think you are going to accomplish turns to some sort of monster or horror or nightmare as you do it.  I sure had different ideas for what I was going to do out on my patio this afternoon.  Ugh!  Ugh! to the point I have to laugh.  I really don’t know what to do with either of these except to chalk them up to experience.

This first one (above) is supposed to be some really brilliant orange geraniums on my patio table.  I don’t think so.  I get so – what?  Impatient may not be the right word.  What I feel is a need to work quickly, and perhaps therein lies the problem.  I drew them in with a pencil and set up all my paints and water and other supplies on a table outdoors.  In 85F or more weather, it was  hot.  But the heat is not the driving force for haste – it happens to me all the time, particularly with watercolor.  It’s something to really think about.

After shuddering at that first painting, I decided to just paint – no lines, nothing, just move along.  Sometimes in watercolor it has proven to be a great exercise.  Here, not so sure.  These are tabasco chilis that are ripening, and will soon be picked and dried, to later be ground into chili powder (we make our own every year, with different peppers.)  Like the first painting, everything went head over heels, and in the end, I just decided to make it more decorative than painterly.

I can always tell when I haven’t picked up a pen or brush for even a couple of days.  I felt all clumsy and disconnected.  Maybe being outside – something I have never done with gouache – added to it.  I really tried to paint from real life, plein aire, and I am not so sure that was for the best.

Oh, well.  I had fun.  Maybe there is something in that.