Garden as Muse- She Sings With Color! (Come tour this artist's garden!)

This artist's heart is in the garden. I've been enjoying the blooms and the gorgeous days in-between the ones that Mother Nature throws in to give us New Englanders a little humility. Or perhaps a sense of humor? or is it to develop patience? Whatever!  :-)  I'm still smiling!  Every so often I'll get out there with my garden journal....rather than the oil paints.  Certain days the muse calls for certain things. 

Since May we've been busting out in color here at Steed Studio Gardens- when one flower fades, another variety is ready to go on with the show! We never get tired of it. Let me show you what's been going on over the last many weeks:

  Pull up a seat in the front garden, I'll share some fun from  my garden journal and some from my photo album as well. 

Sometimes I like to makes little vignettes of the current flowers, and leave space for notes about what's going on in the garden at that time.

My garden notes will sometimes compare this years blossoms with last years, and dates when they show up. This year they are late (shame on Mother Nature for her games!).

When the tulips finally show up winter is finally over (at least in our minds!). The work that we undertake in the fall really pays off with this blast of color! This year we chose a more intense variety of orangey-coral and pink-fuchsia colored tulips. If you plant them in a solid mass, they can be oh-so-breath-taking! 

It's always a nice thing to see the bumble bees making their way from flower to flower. Humming-birds find their way here, too - and delight in the flowers. They returned this year even though there are no "feeders". There's plenty to keep them occupied and happy. The hummers are particularly in love with the hot red honeysuckle vine on the side garden trellis.

  The lavender buds are ready to open soon! This will keep the bees happy and humming...and dancing their tumbling little lazy bee dance as they roll through all this....as well as the Eden roses on the fence above them!

The Eden roses have a nice soft fragrance, but others we've planted since then are more fragrant. I can hardly wait until they open!! Just a few more days! The anticipation keeps me running back out there to check, "are they here yet? how 'bout now?"...

Peonies are poppin'! By this weekend, they'll be big and fluffy. Most are a big pink variety, but one shrub is a creamy white, with yellow stamens inside...and it is fragrant- oh to have a perfume made of it would be divine! I would certainly bathe in the stuff!

Sometimes a simple lunch of salad and bread-sticks is enhanced by 'the atmosphere' of being in the garden.  

 I paint every day, whether it is "just a sketch" or be it an oil painting, small or large. The muse can lead me in a few different directions

But color- oh she always sings with color! and texture, and oh yes, fragrance...and here and there, some for taste! I hope that each day you remember to include the things that make your heart sing!  

"The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring". - Bern Williams

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." - Margaret Atwood

  

Thanks for coming along on my garden tour. My next two "Mentoring Mondays" will be plein air in my garden (weather permitting).  Contact me for more information. Last week was quite fun! I'm gearing up for my workshop in Ireland at the end of this month- but have no fear, hubby will be tending the garden solo while I'm gone. If you've enjoyed the tour, please share this post with a friend, or follow me on Facebook, or sign up for my "Cheer Factor - Thoughts on Art & Life" newsletter.  You can check out the last edition here.

You'll want to be first to get information about next year's workshop in France!