 |
| sold |
Tranquility reigns at the Bishop's Garden of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC on a sunny summer afternoon.
Showing posts with label gazebo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gazebo. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
"Bishop's Garden Summer" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold
Tranquility reigns at the Bishop's Garden of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC on a sunny summer afternoon.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
"Bishop's Garden at National Cathedral" (oil on stretched canvas; 30" x 40") sold
 |
| sold |
This is the largest oil painting I have done as a commission and took a few weeks to complete. The client told me that her husband proposed to her at this beautiful place--the Bishop's Garden at the Washington National Cathedral. The painting is going to be an anniversary present to him. Isn't that a romantic story?
Friday, January 10, 2014
"Love of My Life" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 16") gift
 |
| gift |
These two people are the love of my life--my husband and daughter. They give meaning and purpose to my life. My daughter is a busy high-school kid who participates in many camps during the summer months. We haven't taken summer vacations for two years because of her busy schedule!
Bemoaning the fact, I suggested a day outing one day. But the forecast was ominous with thunderstorms and such. We stayed put. The weather, however, turned out to be one of the best summer days in the Washington area. After a nice dinner at a restaurant, we went for an enjoyable walk in a neighborhood park. I took the reference photo for the painting at the pond gazebo.
"Love of My Life" again proves my philosophy. As long as we are with the people we love AND enjoy each other's company, we don't have to go to Europe or a tropical paradise for a "quality" family time. My husband asked me to paint the scene to capture our happy day together. The painting is for him.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
"Green Spring Day" (oil on linen; 8" x 8") sold
 |
| sold |
 |
| The gazebo at the Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA |
 |
| There were three of us painting together on this glorious spring day! |
 |
| "Green Spring Day" blocked in with transparent paints. |
 |
| "Green Spring Day" further developed. |
On the morning of the May Day, I received a tempting email from a painting buddy. She and another mutual friend were going out to the Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA. She invited the members of the Art League Plein Air Painters to join them. I was torn. After three days of rain, it was sunny again. But I was going to stay home and do things around the house. What to do?
I couldn't resist the prospect of the plein air painting fun with friends on such a fine day. It's been almost a year since I painted outside. Despite the winds, chilly air, and numerous chatty onlookers, we enjoyed our outing thoroughly and vowed to go out more often this year.
As I have been meaning to do a series of spring garden paintings for May, "Green Spring Day" seems like the perfect piece to kick off my May Challenge--"Spring Garden"!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
"Bishop's Garden at Washington National Cathedral" (oil on canvas; 12" x 16") sold
 |
| sold |
"Bishop's Garden at Washington National Cathedral," which I thought was finished, wasn't working and has been sitting in my studio. Drawing wasn't bad, but it looked anemic, hesitant, and plain boring. These days, my motto is more paint, more color. So, I went to work to make it rich and alive.
There are three things going on in this rather complicated painting. The octagonal stone gazebo, which leads to the famous Bishop's Garden; the garden in the middle ground; and the beautiful, Gothic-style National Cathedral. Which is the focal point exactly? I figured out that it had to be the gazebo, which I had downplayed in the original painting. It can be glowing in the heat and show more texture of the stone and roof tiles.
How about the garden? Why is it dissolving into the cathedral? It should come forward. What about the cathedral? I know it's way in the back and should stay there, but it can have more punch. Use thicker paint and more lively colors.
I did all of the above and am finally satisfied with the painting. Now I can rest in peace. Amen.
Friday, June 8, 2012
"Summer Garden" (oil on canvas; 10" x 10") sold
I had so much fun painting "Hydrangea and Picket Fence" the other day that I decided to do a series. All four paintings were based on the photos I took at Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA last Monday. Some days you are just darn lucky! Do you see the white picket fence that surrounds the gazebo in my painting below, which I painted in April?
I have been impatiently waiting for the hydrangea season, because I know that they have hydrangeas planted all around the gazebo. For whatever reason, hydrangeas and a white picket fence are a match made in heaven. They just look perfect together. They evoke a nostalgic, cottage-garden look that pulls our heart string. You may not have a hydrangea bed in your garden; you may not even have any garden at all. But don't you wish you have hydrangeas blooming by a white picket fence in a friendly neighborhood where neighbors look out for each other?
 |
| "Summer Garden" sold |
 |
| "Hydrangea Bed" (oil, 7" x 7") sold |
 |
| "Hydrangea Garden" (oil, 7" x 5") sold |
I had so much fun painting "Hydrangea and Picket Fence" the other day that I decided to do a series. All four paintings were based on the photos I took at Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA last Monday. Some days you are just darn lucky! Do you see the white picket fence that surrounds the gazebo in my painting below, which I painted in April?
 |
| "Green Spring Gazebo" (oil, 11" x 14") sold |
I have been impatiently waiting for the hydrangea season, because I know that they have hydrangeas planted all around the gazebo. For whatever reason, hydrangeas and a white picket fence are a match made in heaven. They just look perfect together. They evoke a nostalgic, cottage-garden look that pulls our heart string. You may not have a hydrangea bed in your garden; you may not even have any garden at all. But don't you wish you have hydrangeas blooming by a white picket fence in a friendly neighborhood where neighbors look out for each other?
Saturday, April 14, 2012
"Green Spring Gazebo" (oil on linen; 11" x 14") sold
For the first time since last December, I went outside to paint yesterday. It was not a paint-out, just a "let's go painting together if the weather turns out good" kind of thing; there were three of us--a friend of mine, myself, and a gentleman who happened to come to paint. It has been cool lately, or a normal mid-spring weather, to which we were no longer used. The temperature reached 60 degrees, sunny and pleasant to be outside.
At Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA, our location, were school children on field trips, families with young children picnicking, old couples taking walks, and amateur photographers taking pictures of flowers. We had plenty of visitors and admirers. What can I say? Plein-air painters should be paid for our service of making a place more picturesque!
My subject matter was the popular gazebo at the garden park. I have painted it several times in the past; I might be obsessed about it actually. The drawing is not easy, although I have gotten better at it thanks to practice. The hardest part of painting the gazebo from the viewpoint I have chosen was making the architectural, hard structure not stick out against the dark evergreens in the background. It was not a thick woods, just a screen of tall trees in the shade. I wanted to capture the feeling of airiness and the gazebo melting into the happy, sunny, spring landscape. Do you think I succeeded?
 |
| sold |
 |
| Gazebo at Green Spring Gardens Park |
For the first time since last December, I went outside to paint yesterday. It was not a paint-out, just a "let's go painting together if the weather turns out good" kind of thing; there were three of us--a friend of mine, myself, and a gentleman who happened to come to paint. It has been cool lately, or a normal mid-spring weather, to which we were no longer used. The temperature reached 60 degrees, sunny and pleasant to be outside.
At Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA, our location, were school children on field trips, families with young children picnicking, old couples taking walks, and amateur photographers taking pictures of flowers. We had plenty of visitors and admirers. What can I say? Plein-air painters should be paid for our service of making a place more picturesque!
My subject matter was the popular gazebo at the garden park. I have painted it several times in the past; I might be obsessed about it actually. The drawing is not easy, although I have gotten better at it thanks to practice. The hardest part of painting the gazebo from the viewpoint I have chosen was making the architectural, hard structure not stick out against the dark evergreens in the background. It was not a thick woods, just a screen of tall trees in the shade. I wanted to capture the feeling of airiness and the gazebo melting into the happy, sunny, spring landscape. Do you think I succeeded?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)