Tag Archives: draw

Sep5

What Do You Have in Your Garden?

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What Do You Have in Your Garden?

Many years ago my pride and joy was our thirsty gardens with dichondra for the lawn.  The lawn was perfect with my husband spending hours and hours on it edging, and mowing constantly so it would be low and tight!  The foliage was gorgeous.  I had flower beds to die for, and a particularly beautiful Flowering Plum tree in the front yard. Now days we haven’t the time or energy to care for anything close to a yard like that, and I have grown to appreciate the many attributes of succulents!  I’ve learned of the beauty in the happy surprises when they suddenly bloom leaving us with a sometimes unusual bloom that lasts for sometimes six week or more.  My yard is now full of these wonderful plants, and I’m forever on a quest to find yet another variety to display in my garden.

I mentioned on Monday that the theme for the week would be our yards and gardens, and now seems to be the appropriate time to sketch another bunch of succulents.  They are rapidly becoming my favorites!  This little sketch is of a few pots some with freshly planted succulents, others with established plants that have begun to bloom.  I mentioned the other day of the one I love the most right now.  Not sure what the name of it is, but it seems to go on blooming forever giving my garden a much needed splash of color.

I can’t wait to see your  sketches, and paintings of the living things from your gardens, and how much thinking outside the box some of you have been able to do.  Remember anything goes, you are only limited by your imagination!   Life is good, let’s capture some of the sweetness on paper!

P.S.  My husband tells me the dictionary defines Dichondra as part of the Morning Glory family.  Is this a good thing or bad thing, you tell me!

Sep4

Just Another Lazy Day

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Just Another Lazy Day

I’m not whining, really I’m not, but the heat, she’s not going away!  This is  just another lazy  September day giving us an opportunity to create .  I know, you’re going to say, “How can you whine,  you live in Oceanside?”  And, you’re right!   I’m not whining, maybe just observing!  Mornings seem to work fore me, they are quiet, cool, and I’m inspired by the little birds chirping, and dragonflies circling the garden.  I guess we are all tired of the intense heat, and ready for relief.  I keep saying it will be any day now, but any day now brings fall, and winter.  I have trouble getting inspired when I’m freezing!  We have a way to go before the freezing sets in, so I for one am going to enjoy every bit of summer left.

Yesterday, I set the challenge for a week instead of a day.  All week long we will sketch, paint, draw, or collage something living from the yard.  Those are  pretty broad choices!  It can be a plant, a flower, several plants, trees, anything just do a little piece of creativity!  Sometimes there isn’t time to go into full fledged art mode, but some simple little piece of the making  of art  keeps the gates open, and I always feel I’ve accomplished something important to me, even on a busy day.

As you look around the yard, or your neighbors yard (snicker, snicker) take some pictures, or sit down in the shade with pencil or pen, and do a little something to keep the creativity flowing!

Sep3

Lazy Labor Day

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After finishing all the things I had planned for today, and taken a nap, I’m now dragging myself  back to the computer to find the blog post that disappeared.  I am still unable to locate it, and if it finds it’s way back to  it’s rightful place,  that’s a bonus.  I think the fault is with me!   We have a Mac computer, and it saves everything automatically.  I didn’t think (for the second time) about saving my post, and I lost it!  How long  will it take me to learn this lesson is anyones guess, but I’ll try!

This morning I was going on and on about the end of summer, and how as a kid I hated Labor Day, because school started the next day.  As I grew up, and had kids of my own, I loved Labor Day, the kids go back to school!  Now school starts at different times, in different places?  My grand kids have already returned, and we celebrate that event.  They love school, and welcome the start, and we love for them to start also!

The challenge for this week is each day, sketch, paint, collage, or otherwise create something from the yard.  Something that grows, or lives in your yard.  If you have time, at the end of the week, you will have five works that will help get you motivated to think about the following week.  Start slow, and small if you like, what matters is that you did it.  Don’t compare your work with anyone else’s, yours is from your journey!  Make it as easy on yourself as you can!  No point in aiming for something so complex that you are discouraged from creating regularly.  It’s easy to bottle up, and difficult to get creativity flowing again.

When you are finished, post on Facebook, or send your picture to me, (Karensamenow@me.com) and I’ll post it with your name on it, on this blog.

Have a great afternoon, relax, and enjoy the rest of Labor Day!

Sep3

September 3, 2012

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I’m sure all can relate to this, but I just spent almost an hour writing a post for a challenge for this day in September, and I must have pushed the wrong button because it has disappeared. I’ll try and rewrite it a little later, but for now…..

The challenge is to sketch, or paint something from your garden.  In fact, all week long our challenge will be something from the garden.  Anything goes, any creativity is wonderful, go for it!

I’m headed out for awhile, and can’t stop to rewrite this at the moment.  A little later I’ll post my sketch, and some works of encouragement.  I’ll be back!