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.

Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia

Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia

I have just returned from a painting trip in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  When signing up for the trip, it seemed like a wild and wacky thing to go half way around the world, over 9000 miles, but the allure of the ancient Khmer temples of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, and Banteay Srei was too much to resist.  How could I pass up such an opportunity when it dropped in my lap?

It is Ta Prohm that most enchants.  Imagine coming into a jungle forest clearing to find a lost and forgotten temple. Tall fig, bayon and kapok trees send their roots down into the stone imprisoning ancient sculptures, toppling stones into walkways and uprooting terraces.  Yellow and green lichen soften stone with the patina of age. Sunlight filters through a leafy canopy above casting shadows here and warming stone there.  Excavation of the site has been with an eye to giving the visitor a sense of the archaeologist's discovery and wonder.

Angkor Wat is a majestic temple complex surrounded by an immense moat.  A mountain rising out of a vast ocean, it is symbolic of the paradisiacal Mount Mero.  Angkor Thom, ancient city, once home to over a million people proclaims the majesty of its then kings through its terraced, towered and sculptural temples rising above the forest canopy.   Banteay Srei, the woman's temple, is small and intimate with beautifully carved reliefs of pink sandstone.

Angkor Wat

Baphuon, Angkor Thom

Bayon, Angkor Thom

Banteay Srei 

Happy New Year 2013

A Happy New Year to Everyone!  These figures are of ornaments I bought in Russia in 2002 when I went to bring back to the Walters Art Museum an exhibition of Russian avant-garde art from the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburgs. The one in the middle says Happy New Year.

When I first began my blog, I was so excited to see that people around world were looking at my blog. I had a number of hits from Russia and thought that perhaps one person was particularly interested in what I was posting.  It occurred to me to paint these little figures in honor of the people from far away that look at my blog.

So, again, a Happy New Year to all in this country and abroad.  May it be a year of peace and understanding.

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?

Fleeting Moments

Yesterday I took a little time to sit on my deck and enjoy breakfast before a day spent getting through a long to-do list.  It was hot and humid--true Baltimore weather.  The cicadas had set up a racket that was only rivaled by the hum of air conditioners.  Off in the dense foliage of the trees a woodpecker hopped from branch to branch--sometimes pecking away at the main tree trucks, sometimes tapping at a branch while hanging upside down.  Closer at hand the most beautiful spiderweb hung suspended in the air anchored by thin threads to the patio umbrella above and the deck railing and window box to the sides.  It glistened in the sun. The web finished, the spider scurried to the center.

I went inside to grab my pen and sketchbook so I could draw this amazing creation.  When I returned the spider and web were gone!  Only one gossamer thread remained to show they had ever been here.  I did this sketch from memory, drawing each line with patience.  As I drew, I marveled at the spider's tenacity to  connect each thread with care and weave such an intricate design.