"Cherry Blossom Delight" (oil on linen; 7" x 7") sold

sold

The cherry on this yummy French pastry still has the dried blossom attached!

"Cherry Blossom Tunnel" (oil; 10" x 8") sold; "Spring Orchard" (oil, 10" x 8") sold

"Cherry Blossom Tunnel" (oil, 10" x 8")
sold

"Spring Orchard" (oil, 10" x 8")
sold

"Apple Tree Blooming" (oil, 12" x 12"), sold

I have a thing for flowering trees.  Cherry blossoms passed the peak where I live. Apple, crab apple, and pear trees are blooming now.  Double cherries will open soon too.  It's time to be joyous!

Mini cherry blossom festival in my garden, a week ago

Cherry Blossom Festival at the Tidal Basin,  a week ago

Crab apple flowers in my backyard

"Cherry Blossom Tunnel" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

I was driving in my neighborhood on a beautiful spring day.  I saw these double cherries in full bloom.  I went back to my house to grab my camera and returned to the scene.  When I pulled over to take pictures on the sidewalk, it was even more enchanting than I imagined.  A cherry blossom tunnel!

"Tidal Basin in Cherry Blossom Season" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

The Tidal Basin during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in early spring is the mecca for tourists.  In this painting, I nestled the famous Jefferson Memorial in a circle of cherry branches.

"Cherry Blossom" (watercolor on paper; 18" x 14") sold

sold

Cherry Blossom is the name of a tour boat that goes up and down the Potomac River.  On the day when I took the reference photo, it was glowing with the sunlight.  A perfect subject to try out the  watercolor technique that I learned in Jean Grastorf 's workshop!  She uses only three colors--a red, blue, and yellow--in large tubes, which she dilutes to a creamy consistency in small separate cups.  On a stretched paper, the whites on the drawing have to be protected with masking fluid. 

Then the messy and fun part begins--you pour the colors, letting them mix and mingle.  As the paper dries, you have to do this in several stages for darker values, at each stage protecting the areas of lighter tones with more masking fluid.  Tedious, yes.  But you just cannot get the same glowing effect with brushes.  The painting was juried into the Art League show in Alexandria, VA in 2005.

"Tidal Basin in Bloom" (oil on linen, 7" x 7") sold

sold

The Tidal Basin during the Cherry Blossom Festival is an irresistible subject for a painter.  But it is impossible to paint en plein air with all those people milling around.  The reference photo was taken on a misty, overcast day, which created a romantic mood.  When parts of the country are under snow, it's perhaps good to remember that the spring will come in about three or four months.