New paintings and regular art updates.
Still a sea of flowers. The weather forecast says temperatures of 5°C tonight but I hope that the enclosed yard will protect the plants. I will see in the morning…..
The red flowers seem to be the main things that are still flowering. The yellow line at the top is our washing line, but it’s hard to dry clothes on it in the summer.
The flowers and plants will wilt and die over winter. Autumn is still slightly warm and they are clinging on, but I’ve noticed the delicate leaves are yellowing. I will try and get a few photos of the back yard before the hanging baskets die off. I might plant some of the more robust plants into the main garden to give them a bit more shelter to overwinter. I will miss the bright colours that have sparkled in the sunlight this summer. I know things probably will last till November. Early this year we still had a few flowers in January!
Nasturtiums like poor soil. They have large seeds about the size of a pea. I think they would be great for children to grow. You can plant them in succession over a few weeks and they first put out tendrils with umbrella shaped leaves. When it rains droplets gather on their leaves. Then in late summer, or early autumn the flowers appear. Trumpet shaped, the flower from pale yellow to deep red, with diffeepatterns and stripes as well as full colour ones. You can eat the spicy leaves and flowers in salads or on cold soups. I think the victorians used to use them as food decorations.
Wonderful to see new flowers on one of my orchid plants. They are behind this glass Robin. I didn’t want to try and move it out of the way incase I knocked one of the flowers off. They are a bit brown on the edges, I think the orchid had dried out a bit so I need to get a mist spray for them. My other orchid plants are green but not flowering. I think they need new growing medium and to let their ariel roots get some freedom.
Sunlight through leaves, making patterns on the kitchen wall. It would be brighter but the wall is painted a pale apple green. When there was a partial eclipse a few years ago the light hitting the wall turned into increasing crescent moon shapes as the Moon passed in front of the Sun. This time of year, before the autumn sets in, there is a lot of shade from the trees in the garden. The pear tree is casting most of the shade on the wall, and a few pears have started to fall as the morning temperature reduces. I can almost feel a chill in the air this morning.
Soon it will be the vernal? Equinox, when the day and night time are in balance in the Northern (and also Southern) Hemispheres of the Earth. That is when both day and night are exactly 12 hours long. Soon the days here will shorten, whilst they grow longer in the south. I hope the nights are not too cold, I would like the leaves to stay on the trees as long as possible. I always feel sad when they become skeletal in the winter and the long wait till spring comes round again drags on. I miss my flowers as they wilt and fade, and I find it harder to motivate myself in the dark days of winter. But that is a while away yet, so I will enjoy what is left of the summer while I can.
Found in the garden under a bush. She was wrapped in ivy and laurel leaves. Lost in our garden. A wood fairy or sprite, turned not to stone, but sadly only resin. Still, she slowly danced through spring and autumn, summer and winter. Slowly submerged in vegetation. I’m glad she’s rescued. Now she’s in the yard, surrounded by petals and colours. Nasturtiums, petunias, fushias, begonias, a true flower fairy. Blooming lovely.
It was called Dasies. The figure in the doorway was my friend at the time. But like the painting she was strange. A complex person that tried to do things and disturb my life. I think she might have been OK, but one day she did something that completely lost my trust in her. I won’t go into detail, but she showed an uncaring side that really hurt me and my hubby. I could have forgiven her, I could have accepted her apologies, but why should I?
What do the Dasies and plants signify? Because it was before the split, I think probably I was trying to beautify the image. The garden was not as floriferous as this. It was a gift for either her birthday or Christmas. She was good at hiding her thoughts and the slightly surreal air was trying to capture that. I think most of my paintings are quite narrative. I’m glad I kept a photo of it, I have lost track of the paintings I have done over the years. Perhaps this ended up in the bin?
In love with a photo filter
Not my face!
Not altering my shape!
Just adding texture
Making entanglements
Shifting my perspective
Seeing into ideas
Let me play,
Have fun
Change up a gear.
Hundreds of flowers. Some fruit, tomatoes, ground to fence. We go mad every year, but this year has been spectacular. We have, I must admit, been using the hose, but will have to use a watering can if they bring in the ban. The heat today was difficult to cope with. When you have humidity caused by the water it seems even hotter. The blueberries are suddenly ripening and we have had a windfall apple. Hopefully the tomatoes will ripen soon. Its crammed with plants and is my happy place in summer.
Tonight we had a visitor flying fast and silently above the yard. It was a bat catching moths and insects. I think the flowers attract them and the bat’s come to feed.
Thistles and Rosebay Willowherb. Both covered in seed heads. They were still attached to the plants because there has been little wind to distribute them despite strong sunshine to ripen the heads. When the wind does pick up I imagine it will be like looking at a flurry of snowflakes drifting through the air. The thistles look so soft despite their sharp edges. Thistle down… Fairies floating on the air…. The bees had something good to sip….
Mallaband-Brown