Brotherly Love

"Brotherly Love"
20x24 oil on canvas

When things get too stressful here on the farm, Pa and I like to get away to... well, another farm.

Shaker Village near Lexington, Kentucky is a quaint village of beautiful old buildings built by the Shakers in the early 1800s.  

The setting is rural and peaceful with tall trees, wildflowers, and trails along a creek.

We like to go for their annual antique show in June. Booths are set up under billowing white tents and filled with lovely old pieces, both large and small.

Shaker Village has a good restaurant that often serves produce that was grown in the garden right outside the window. I loved how they planted these varigated rows of lettuce!

There's a barnyard filled with chickens, sheep, oxen and this big fellow!

That was where I spied the inspiration for my painting... two goats sound asleep, one using the other's back to rest his head. Unfortunately, I only had my iphone to take their picture... but it worked and I had fun painting them!

:The Stairs at Shakertown"
16x20 oil on canvas

Several years ago on another trip there, I snapped a photo of the stairs in the restaurant and painted that too. Shakertown is a pleasant place to visit and it seems a good resource for subject matter to paint!

Inspiration for Art in the Garden

With beautiful spring weather finally here and plenty of April showers continuing in May, I can find inspiration for art right outside my back door!

This clematis vine is in full bloom. At last count, there were 22 flowers

and they're HUGE! This might be a painting to try soon.

On my patio, there's another variety. Clematis is showy but easy to grow. The plants need a trellis or something to climb. They are best planted near a foundation since they like their roots cool. This one is next to my patio so the roots hide there.

Coreopsis has a profusion of bright golden blooms that nod gently in the breeze.

Several years ago, my watercolor instructor gave me this ruffled peach iris.

Cheri gave me this deep dark purple iris too. 

Her watercolor paintings of iris are gorgeous, just like the flowers she shared.

I love columbine! It reseeds itself and surprises me all over the garden. I once had several varieties but the bees have cross-pollenated them so they all look alike now. 

My favorite flower in the garden is this red peony. It's always the first peony to bloom and looks wonderful in an arrangement. I see another painting here!

The herbs in my porch box are doing well too. They might even inspire me to cook! This year I planted parsley, thyme, and dill to use in this herbed chicken salad recipe from the Stone Gable blog. We tried it for my granddaughter's christening party and it is so good! The puff pastry cups are cute too.

Speaking of my new little granddaughter, she's coming to visit this week. I decided that was a good-enough reason to spruce up the patio a bit so I sprayed all the wrought iron with black Rustoleum paint and ordered some new Sunbrella cushions from Home Depot.

Do you think she'll notice?

Daffodils mean it's undoubtedly spring!

After several weeks of cold weather, today the sun is shining and the daffodils are blooming. It's finally  spring! Buttercups, jonquils, daffodils, narcissus... whatever you prefer to call them, they are undoubtedly one of my favorite flowers. I am lucky to have several varieties that were given to me by my mother. 

I don't know the names of most of them, but this one is Thalia. It is creamy white and sweet smelling. Thalia often has two or more blooms on a single stem. I love the little glass basket too. It was my mother's and I can remember filling it with buttercups when I was a child.

This little narcissus blooms profusely with three or four flowers on a stem and a wonderfully strong fragrance that means spring to me!

Another white daffodil, this one has a ruffled pink trumpet.

16x20 oil on canvas

Several years ago I did this painting of an arrangement of daffodils from my yard. It hangs in my kitchen so I can enjoy "spring" all year long. Can you find the varieties in the photos above? 

Daffodil Tips and Tricks

One of my favorite things about buttercups is that they return each year with no effort on my part! All I have to do is remind Pa not to mow down the foliage until it turns brown in late June or July. Daffodils use the foliage to store food in order to bloom the following year. If they are mowed down too soon, they will not continue to bloom! 

Another nice thing about daffodils is that the bulbs can be dug up and shared with others. Wait until they have finished blooming, preferably when the foliage has died down, to dig them. Then plant the bulbs 4 to 6 inches in the ground. Add a little bone meal to fertilize them. Next spring, they'll bloom and will return each year. Easy!

A vase with a narrow opening works well with buttercups. If you want to use them in an arrangement that requires floral foam or oasis, insert a floral pick or a toothpick in the hollow of the stems to make them more sturdy.

 

 I'm linking this post to Jenny Matlock's AlphabeThursday... for daffodils mean it's undoubtedly spring!!!

And I'm linking to Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable.