"Lavender Heaven" (oil on linen; 11" x 14")

Painting No. 1: "Lavender Heaven"
click here to buy

I love lavender.  Its enchanting scent and lovely colors always make me happy.  My ideal vacation would be a couple of weeks in Provence, painting lavender fields.  Someday....  In the meanwhile, this past weekend I took a workshop with Bobbi Pratte in the lavender fields at Willow Pond Farm in Fairfield, PA.  "Wow!" sums up the experience: the weather was perfect; the views all around, enchanting; the gourmet lunch of all the dishes with lavender in them, heavenly; the camaraderie among the workshop attendants, excellent; Bobbi's instructions, superb.  I think I ran out of adjectives!

My enthusiasm for lavender motivated me to exceed my records as a fast painter.  I have painted up to three small paintings a day.  Guess how many paintings I created during the workshop.  On Saturday morning, I dispatched two paintings.  During a break after the lunch at the farm, I worked on another painting in the shade under a tree.  By the time, we regrouped for the late afternoon painting session, I was pooped out, but no matter.  I did the number four painting of the day!  I was dazed and exhausted; I slept like a log that night.

Painting No. 2: "Lavender Fields and Summer Meadow" (oil, 10" x 8")
sold

Painting No. 3: "Lavender Patch by the Barn" (oil, 9" x 12")
click here to buy

 

Painting No. 4: "Red Hot Poker Summer Garden" (oil, 8" x 10")
sold

On Sunday morning, after adding some finishing touches on a couple of paintings from the previous day, I "attacked" the lavender fields again, which led to Painting No. 5:

Painting No. 5: "Purple Heaven" (oil, 12" x 12")
sold

Eventually, alas, the lavender fatigue set in.  The last painting was more or less a rehashing of what I have done so far.  Nobody's perfect, you see.

Painting No. 6: "Lavender Fields on a Summer Afternoon" (oil, 8" x 10")
sold

Here are some pictures from the workshop I want to share:

Lavender cheese spread container

Lunch table; Bobbi is the lady in orange T and shirt, the second from the right

Lunch spread

Lavender blueberry cheesecake; I have the recipes for all the dishes!

Lavender tour; do you know that lavender and rosemary are close relatives?

Lavender pickers; another painting material after I recover from the lavender fatigue

Painting lavender fields; I just had to take a picture of my friends working so seriously!

LAVENDER FIELDS FOREVER!