Louisiana Iris

-
Louisiana Iris

Winter has come to Louisiana along with some wet weather, so the garden part of me is forced indoors and the artist wants to come out and play a bit. My husband and I are heading up for a week in Virginia, but first I wanted to get in one painting before we leave. The pictures I took way back in the spring have been on my mind of late and I hope to explore them in a few paintings this winter. So here is my first attempt. Winter hasn't arrived and I am already longing for spring. Though my garden has lettuce and herbs in it, I think I need to enjoy the break from watering and dust off those paints.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting into Trees

-
Image
The Right Path In my watercolor class, hosted by a very talented man in the UK, we are beginning our adventure with trees: how to paint them organically, how to make them convincingly real by the use of shadow, how to paint the layer of branches...trees, to me, are as hard to paint as the human form in all their complexity. I am looking forward to the challenge...and I am off to paint more trees! This scene is from one of my favorite places: the Smoky Mountains in Cades Cove. Suffice to say, there will be many more paintings coming from this area!
Read more

A New Year's Challenge: Eat Whole Foods

-
Image
Many people make New Year's resolutions. Here is a wonderful one for your family's health: Make a goal to get rid of all packaged foods from your diet, and eat only whole, unprocessed foods. With gastrointestinal diseases on the rise along with diabetes and obesity, this really is a wonderful gift to give your family. It is not easy. Many people have become so use to living with these boxed convenient foods that they cannot imagine how they can survive without them. New recipes will need to be searched out, maybe new places to buy groceries and those unused pots and pans will need to dusted off and put back into use. But the rewards are a healthier family, and that is priceless This can seem like a daunting task at first, so start slow. Begin with one mealtime a week. Breakfast is the easiest. Get rid of the boxed cereals, instant oatmeal, packaged frozen waffles and pancakes, Poptarts, prepackaged muffins...you get the idea. Think: eggs, homemade breads, waffles and muffi...
Read more

Winter Planning for that Spring Garden

-
Image
When you live down South, winter is a busy time for gardeners. After the busyness of the Holidays have past the seed catalogs start rolling in. I pile them up on my desk and try to get to them before all the specials expire. Gurneys and Gardens Alive always have 50% off sales and even free shipping. So, if I am ordering seeds, fertilizers and supplies, I spend a week about now trying to figure out what may be on my wish list.  This year, after seeing my sister's success with potatoes, I want to give them a try again. Gurneys has some wonderful upright containers to put them in to save space. There is also the lettuce, chard, kale and spinach seeds to order, along with some chile peppers and tomatoes. Of course not to be forgotten are the butternut squash, yellow squash, zucchini and cucumber seeds.  February is a good time to start the peppers and tomatoes from seed if you want large healthy plants ready to put in the ground by Easter time. If the weather warms up in la...
Read more