"Peony, Nigella, and Foxglove" (watercolor on paper; 8" x 8")

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Pink peonies, nigella (love in a mist), and foxgloves--all from my cottage garden--make a lovely bouquet, don't you think?  Of course, these flowers are all gone; my garden looks dreadful these days, although a reblooming iris started blooming.  Apparently, it couldn't wait until the fall.  Neither can I!

These reblooming irises are more expressive than the regular ones, but you get to enjoy them twice a year!

"Foxgloves" (watercolor; 6" x 4")

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"Foxgloves" is another "sketch" that turned out well.  I started out by drawing the florets with aquarelle pencils, then applied watercolor paints.  If there are any errant lines, I just brush over them with clear water, which blurs and softens them.  I am in love with the method which allows me to draw and paint small watercolors loosely without pressure to produce.

"Poppy and Larkspur" (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

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The transparent underpainting for "Poppy and Larkspur"

Reference photo

I am in the grip of the yearning for romantic garden paintings and this winter won't let go. Yes, it snowed again yesterday.  I can't wait to see flowers blooming in gardens, parks, meadows, and just everywhere!  In the meanwhile I had to resort to my photo files to come up with an image that might satisfy my urge.  How about pink poppy and blue larkspur?

"Rose Arbor" (oil on stretched canvas; 12 x 16")

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Don't you want to walk through the blue arbor gate, heavily laden with the cascading roses?  I can almost smell the enchanting perfume of the old-fashioned roses called "Pinky".  No, I don't live in this lovely house with a rose garden.  It belongs to my old friend, Beth.  Eve in the title is her cute little daughter's name!

"Sunny Hydrangea Garden" (oil on linen; 8" x 8") sold

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I have a soft spot for hydrangeas.  Their huge heads of pastel florets that grace gardens in late spring tug at my heartstrings as few other flowers do.  Now the weather has turned chilly, the image of a sunny garden with hydrangeas abloom is perfect to lift my spirit.

"Summer Garden with Hydrangea" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 12") sold

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Before

Something about "Summer Garden with Hydrangea" bothered me.  It felt like a faded old picture.  I decided to rescue a painting nobody seemed to care for.  I punched up the darks, got rid of the dominant sap greens, and played up the violet-yellow green complementary color scheme.  My new summer garden painting looks kissed by the sun, don't you think?

"Pink Hollyhocks" (watercolor on Yupo; 10" x 8")

matted size: 14" x 11"
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I decided to paint watercolors this summer, taking a break from the intense oil painting exploration since April.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may recall my "Spring Fever" series of watercolor florals in March.

"Spring Flowers Collage I"
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For this summer's watercolor series, I wanted to do something different.  I felt that my usual way of painting watercolors was too tight.  Honestly, no artist wants to paint tightly!  How do I achieve my goal of painting loosely?  Paint on Yupo, which does its own thing.

I can't go back to fix things, because if I do, the dry paints will be reactivated by water and be lifted.  If I use a soft sable brush with the gentlest touch, I can maybe do a glaze or two over a small area.  Ordinarily, watercolor paints on paper dry disappointingly lighter than they appeared when wet.  Not with Yupo.  Paints dry in intense original colors and glow like jewels.  Look at "Pink Hollyhocks".  Do you believe me?

"Hydrangea and White Picket Fence" (oil on linen; 8" x 8") sold

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Hydrangeas are blooming!  There is something irresistible about hydrangeas AND a white picket fence.  They pull heartstrings as nothing else.  So romantic and nostalgic.  It doesn't matter whether your mother's garden had these.  I do have a white picket fence; I have a small pink hydrangea bush.  But they are separated by a lawn and driveway!

So, during the hydrangea season, I haunt the Green Spring Garden's Park in Alexandria, VA, which is just a stone's throw from my place.  The gazebo, which I have painted a gazillion times, is surrounded by a white picket fence.  When hydrangeas bloom, it looks even prettier.  For the past few weeks I checked the growth of the hydrangeas several times to make sure that I wouldn't miss them at their peak.  My patience was rewarded at last.  You will be seeing more of hydrangea paintings!  

By the way, the winner of the print of "Summer Garden" is Sandra Land. Congratulations!  I would like to thank 50 fans and followers who participated in the drawing.  I will be giving away an original painting in early July.  So stay tuned!

Do you remember this gazebo?

"Old English Cottage" (oil on linen; 10" x 10") sold

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Poplar Cottage on a cold March day. 

No chimney in the cottage, only a "smoke bay"!

A kind volunteer lady freezing inside the cottage!

This charming English cottage is called Poplar Cottage, which dates from the mid-17th century.  We visited it at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in West Sussex, England.  It was a cold and gray day on our visit, but exercising an artistic license, I turned the scene into a sunny spring day!

At the open air museum we saw many old houses and farm buildings.  The oldest was from the 13th century!  They had been moved timber by timber to the museum for preservation.  We felt like we have wandered into a medieval village.  Magic!  We learned a lot about the evolution of domestic housing for common people.  For instance, Poplar Cottage used to belong to a cobbler.

As you can see in the reference picture for the painting, there is no chimney, although it was being introduced in England about the same time of its construction.  No chimney, only a "smoke bay"!  Smoke had no place to escape other than circulate inside the cottage.  Our eyes stung!  We were greeted by a kind volunteer lady who had to use a walker to get around.  I felt relieved when I saw her leaving the premise soon after our departure.

The museum was practically run by numerous volunteers, who dedicated their time for the love of the place.  They explained things to the visitors, cooked historical meals for us to taste, sewed period costumes with historical material and methods, toiled in the cottage gardens, and bore the freezing cold with grace.  We left the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum with admiration for the English--both past and present!

A volunteer lady showing off a period costume

A volunteer in a Tudor costume; another house with  no chimney!