Inner Sanctum - plein air in the artist's garden

8"x10" oil on Belgian linen mounted on panel (Raymar)

"You have an inner voice that is overwhelmingly powerful, and you need to trust in what truly inspires you."
- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer


This afternoon I stopped to paint my front garden. This is it's first season. We just moved in last year, built these spaces and planted our favorite things. This space is like a little courtyard off of the front door. From the living room, it looks like another small room (the room with a view!). It gets early morning sun, then late after noon sun on one part of it. In the corner of the picket fence is a peegee hydrangea. I'm looking forward to this thing growing and maturing. These long fluffy white blossoms that eventually turn pinky mauve are going to be spectacular. We added a stone circle that fits our garden bench perfectly.

While standing out there painting, I discovered what a wildlife sanctuary this little garden is! A hummingbird buzzed be me & hovered close by before dunking into the pansies. Just after that a chipmunk dashed out from behind the fence across to the garage. Man he was fast! The goldfinches were chirping in the crab apple trees just beyond the fence in the yard below. It was a real "creature feature" going on! I think I'll be spending a lot of time painting in the various 'rooms' of our gardens this summer! It will be fun documenting in paint the progress of all the growth!

For more information...email me at roxannesteed@gmail.com