Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, and Home.

Where the Path Takes You
8 x 10
Oil on Canvas
$175

This morning I woke up at six and watered my gardens before heading to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens to paint. I painted today with Tosca Engish, T. K. Riddle, and Robbie Clemmer. We found shady places to paint and even though it was very hot today it was not too hot where we were.

The inspiration for my painting.

There was shade, a breeze and thanks to the water sprinklers, a little extra coolness in the air. Tosca, T. K., and I painted in the same area. It was nice being able to visit as we painted the morning away. Around noon we were ready for lunch so we decided to go to the Swiss Pastry Shop for lunch, ( and air conditioning.)

Tosca painting with watercolors.

Tosca's husband John, and two other painters Dan Spangler and Hai Chi Lee joined us for lunch. It is always nice to have lunch and visit with fellow artists. You can learn so much from the experiences of your friends.

T. K. painting in oils.

After lunch I came home. I am inspired to paint in my own gardens but it is not nearly as fun as painting with others. I water it every morning and evening and still things look too dry.Besides, I'm actually working on a painting of some bison that  I began at the Fort Worth Nature Center for the Preservation is the Art of the City show. When I finish this, I hope I will have time to finally paint some at home, and hopefully there will be green things left to paint.

One of my roses.

Sunflowers near my cucumbers.

Some of my Roma tomatoes. Next to Porters, they are my favorites

Right now there is a lot of color from the flowers, fruits and vegetables in my gardens. My biggest problems are the squirrels. They eat everything and are especially destructive  to the sunflowers which they love, and show that love by shredding to the ground. I have a live trap and have relocated so many of them and put nets over my trees and grapes, but it feels like a losing battle. In the mean time though I have lots of photos I can paint from if I choose to, but of course that is not the same thing at all, is it?.

My Bell of Georgia Peaches.

My doves

Some of my miniature oranges, I also have full sized oranges, lemons and limes.

A coneflower.

Some of my succulents, cacti, and an owl statue.

Two Weekends of Plein Air

A Winters Afternoon
oil on canvas
8 x 10
$250

   I have had two very nice weekends of plein air painting. Today I went to church and then lunch with my parents before going to paint with my friends Sheri Jones and Joyce Thomas. We painted near Lake Benbrook.     
                                  

Putting the final touches on my painting.

                                     
    It was cold, windy, and rainy yesterday. But today, the wind and rain were gone and the sun was out. It was a beautiful day to be out and a great place to paint. We were not the only ones out enjoying the day. As we painted,  we were passed by joggers, walkers and a multitude of bicyclists.

Joyce and Sheri working on their paintings.

                                     

View along the creek where we painted.

Winter woods
oil on canvas
8 x 10
$250

   Last Saturday it was cold, it didn't get out of the 30s. But it wasn't windy and mostly it was sunny, so ten of us went down to Granbury to paint at Campfire's Camp El Tesoro. The camp is open one weekend a month during the winter and this was the weekend, so despite the cold some of us  went.

Me painting, with Sheri in the background.

   El Tesoro is a beautiful place,  the Brazos River flows through it as does Fall Creek. If the weather had been nicer we would have had over 20 artists but most cancelled and I have to admit I came very close to cancelling as well, but I was glad that I didn't, once I had a look around and began painting.

Dan and Robbie painting the river.

  The group consisted of myself, Tina Bohlman, Debbie Box, Sabine Higgins, Sheri Jones, Robbie Clemmer, Maryann Brummer, and her nephew Austin, Claudia Davis, and Dan Spangler. We spread out along the creek. There are so many great spots to paint.

Our group dressed for the cold and painting too.

   The creek was such a tempting subject with its falls and that is what I started with. But, my painting just wasn't working out so I wiped it down and started over painting the view across the creek, leaving the water out of it altogether. I was drawn to the back lit trees and the pale green fields beyond them.

One of the falls along the creek.

   I was much more pleased with this painting. By this time several of our group had left. I thought about starting a second painting but decided that I had had quite enough of the cold. So instead Robbie and I went to a Mexican restaurant in town. Painting was great but enchiladas, chips and salsa in a warm restaurant were even better.

The white cliffs along Fall Creek.