Three Lady Emma Hamilton Roses

An 8 x 10 inch painting of three of my roses...blooming now. This pastel painting and several others are taking a road trip down to Butternut Gallery in Montrose, PA. They are big, medium and small garden paintings...all reasonably priced. Hope you will stop in to see them during summer /fall. Call for hours: 570-278-4711.

I like roses with scent. Do you? Why bother with unscented ones? Yes, yes, they may stand up to the rain ...not turn all brown like some of my old-fashioned Albas. And, yes, they may bloom all summer. Who cares if they don't have a sweet perfume? Many of the best things in life are fleeting...home-made cupcakes, good-behaviour from dogs and heirloom roses.When the roses are taking a break and some of their foliage is shabby, look elsewhere (breaking waves, lilies, a good novel).

BTW, Lady Emma Hamilton is one of the hardier David Austin roses. It is not floppy, it re-blooms, it has dark foliage and few thorns and a color that belongs here in the Green Mtns. What's not to love?  I would describe the fragrance as "tea". David Austin says, "the flowers have a strong, delicious, fruity fragrance with hints of pear, grape and citrus fruits" . 

Always interested in your news.

You are probably wondering who was Lady Emma Hamilton.

Rose and Pansy Bouquet

SOLD
A small watercolor done yesterday; I set up a tiny vase on my drawing table containing what I consider to be a wonderful bouquet of a single blossom of Winter Sunset Rose and some almost black, huge pansies.
It will be for sale during my upcoming Annual Summer Art Exhibit July2 through 11 here at the studio. The exhibit is open daily 10am-6pm with the following exceptions: July 2nd is an opening reception only from 6-8pm and July 11th the show closes at 4pm.

Albuquerque Hollyhocks

SALE PENDING
This is a larger studio piece done using my photos from May as source material. It's not quite finished, but this will give a pretty good idea of how it's shaping up. And, in the spirit of a Garden Painting Each Day in August, this is what I worked on August 2.

The image size is 34" x 14" and it is done using a variety of soft pastels on Belgian mist Wallis paper mounted on board.

There are many wonderful things about New Mexico, not the least of which is the healthy condition of the hollyhock and rose foliage. If water is available to the roots and not the leaves, they both thrive. As my husband and I were having a patio breakfast and I was admiring the gorgeous healthy clumps of hollyhocks across the street...a man came out of the cafe kitchen with a basin of water for them. In the desert folks have learned to conserve...water that has washed the greens at the sink is greatly appreciated by the roots of the dooryard flowers & trees. They thrive. The loving attention may be partly responsible.

Afternoon Delight

SOLD
This is a lovely bright corner of my garden which I painted on the afternoon of August 1. It is a 9 x 12 plein air pastel done in one sitting with no studio work at all.

It's about time I got to paint instead of weed, weed, weed, deadhead, move plants,weed some more. I plan to capitalize on all my back-breaking garden work, by standing at my easel most every August day right in the midst of the weeds and Japanese Beetles...and assorted fungus spores & despicable plant diseases. I'm going to edit all that out and only bring the lovely parts to my palette of pastels.

Stay tuned.