My Cylburn Art Show Reception

Here I am at left with a friend

The reception for my art show at the Cylburn Arboretum was held on May 24.  It was a wonderful party with over 60 friends there to support me-what a wonderful tribute!  Lots of nice compliments and out of 13 works for sale, 7 sold.  It's a great feeling to have people respond to my work.

Cylburn Art Show Review

Great write-up about the Cylburn art show this weekend by Kathy Hudson. Check it out!

The Watercolors of Joan Elisabeth Reid: Baltimore Fishbowl

A Fairyland of Blossoms

Baltimore is awash with blossoms.  After weeks of cold weather we suddenly experienced two days of 90 degree weather.  Bradford Pear trees planted along the streets create a drift of white that remind one of snow.  The cherry trees are at their peak and Cylburn Arboretum has a particularly lovely orchard.  Accents of golden forsythia peak from gardens and hedges.  It is a fairyland.

Spring Hellebore

Bear's Foot Hellebore

It's Easter Sunday, somewhat rainy and cold here in Maryland, but signs of spring are definitely here.  Some early cherry trees are in bloom although the one outside my window teases with branches loaded with burgeoning buds.  Just one warm day will bring them out.  The weeping willow down the road shows a fine yellow-green haze--a promise of spring to come.  The deepening alizarin crimson buds on the trees behind my house are a prelude to unfurling, green foliage.  Here and there, where the sun has warmed the soil, are a few snow drops, crocuses, and, increasingly, bright daffodils.

In my studio all is spring.  I'm preparing for an exhibition at Cylburn Arboretum this Memorial Day weekend.  This watercolor is of hellebore that were blooming in early April a couple of years ago.  The name doesn't do justice to the loveliness of these pale green blossoms.  The "Lenten Rose," also a hellebore, wins in the name category.

I've just finished an oil of the limonaia (lemon greenhouse) in the Boboli Gardens, Florence, Italy that I saw last April.  I also painted an oil of apple blossoms, so close that I often feel lost in the profusion of petals.  Yesterday, an oil painting of the cherry tree orchard at Cylburn just seemed to paint itself.  I'll post these soon.

In the meantime,  a very Happy Easter to everyone.  Enjoy spring if it has come to you; if not, know that it is coming.

Winner of the Chief of Horticulture Award

Last night was the opening reception for the Cylburn Arboretum Art Exhibition.  52 Baltimore, Maryland artists were represented.  All works were inspired by the lovely Cylburn gardens and it was amazing to see the variety of interpretation.  It was really fun to be part of this celebration.

This work, which I call Duet in Blue and Orange, won the Chief of Horticulture Award!  I was so amazed and pleased.

And this work, Moment of Loveliness, was sold minutes after the exhibition opened:

Butterflies

I went back to Cylburn Arboretum today to see if I could see it with fresh eyes--not just last week's sea of green.  In one of the garden beds small white butterflies danced, alighted, and fluttered through these purply-blue flowers.  This little orange creature paused long enough for me to capture the moment.

Every butterfly was out in full force today making the most of each sweet flower.  These brown butterflies with yellowy-orange spots were having a wonderful time drinking the nectar from the pink flowers at the edge of the woods.

Perhaps the most magnificent were these butterflies, which I think are Eastern Swallowtail Butterflies, that were attracted to a large hydrangea.  Their wings were fully open when resting on a flower, then would close as they drank, only to open as they flew to the next blossom.  They must be migrating through Baltimore.

I came home with so many wonderful photographs and my mind is brimming with ideas for watercolors, but first I want to share these moments of loveliness.

Shade Trees: From Sketch to Painting?

Recently I went to nearby Cylburn Arboretum to see what I might paint for a benefit I am participating in this fall.  In spring there are paths lined with pink and white magnolias, a field of sunny daffodils, a walkway lined with dark green cypress and golden forsythia, and an orchard of cherry trees that scatter their petals at the first rain.   In early summer there are peonies and later on roses.  

This time I was surrounded by a sea of green.  I remember an art teacher once saying how difficult it was to paint in summer when there was little contrast except for the vast range of green.  Already it was hot and humid by 9:30 in the morning.  I sought out paths that led into the woods where it might be cooler.  So many paths were blocked and off limits because of fallen trees.  We have had a couple of storms this year that wrought havoc, downing trees hundreds of years old.

I turned away and found this path with wonderfully contorted tree branches that grew down to the ground and then reached up again to the sky.  As I sketched and painted, I tried to figure out how to depict the dense foliage where it seemed I could see every leaf. I knew I need only convey the sensation of leafiness, coolness, green.  I thought about Vincent Van Gogh's amazing pen and ink drawings composed of a myriad of strokes.  He made it look so simple and easy!

I wonder whether I can create a more finished painting from this watercolor?  Does the scene hold enough interest? Does the composition work?  How would I handle a larger painting?  Should it be in watercolor or oil?  What do you think?