Swallowtail and Pumpkin

 

Butterflies and pumpkins are showing for a few more days at Powell Gardens. The butterflies have been plentiful in my garden, so I sketched as I waited for another to fly by.  Then, I would capture their form and color as fast as I could before they moved on to a new bloom.  The mums and cosmos keep them coming, but it's only a matter of time before a frost comes our way.  I am working on new paintings to go into their gallery space next week, so come see them for the holidays! Painting number 4684 in 4684 days. 

Crossandra and Butterfly

This painting is now showing with six others at Powell Gardens for the Butterfly Festival!  I hope you can come see this one in person and join in the fun! As an avid gardener, I am drawn to butterflies and flowers naturally.  If I'm not tending them in the garden, I am painting them - and sharing the beauty with all those around me.  This has been an amazing bloom season that just keeps going strong. I noticed just this morning that my tulip tree has started blooming again, too!! This painting is number 4579 in 4579 days. 

Missouri Barn and Silo

It was so fun painting the Missouri Barn and Silo at Powell Gardens!  I couldn't resist the challenge of all those geometric shapes, so I sketched them in ink and filled them with watercolor!  The closest beds were zinnias and Lantana, all freshly planted.  In a few short weeks this place will be in full bloom, and I hope to return to see the glory.  Painting number 3780 in 3780 days. 

To the Children's Garden

It was a perfect day to paint the entrance to the Children's Garden at Powell Gardens!  I loved talking art with the children walking by, and listening to their laughter while they played.  There was a piano in the other side of this entrance, and the notes wafted through the air.  I remember my own children play notes on our piano, one that has been in my family four generations.  Now, the grandbabies pick out notes, and I always love the sound of it.  This place was such a peaceful place to paint, and a place is wonder for all the children.  Painting number 3779 in 3779 days. 

Lily in the Pond

I have wanted to try my hand at painting water lilies for years!  The lilies at Powell Gardens are so beautiful this year - I knew this was my chance!  Working from a wonderful photo I took at the paint-out, I set out with my oils on a small panel.  (With company here most of the day - small is all I could work in tonight!)  I actually had fun painting this - and I have always been intimidated by these little beauties!  I will be painting another landscape with a broader scope of the pond one day soon.  I couldn't get the blues to show true in this nighttime photo - so I will try to take one during the daylight hours tomorrow.  This is painting number 184 in as many days.  Now, I'm going to go out and watch some more fireworks!  That's the great thing about living in the country - 4th of July is a non-stop week of fireworks displays each night :)

Lily on the Pond
Oil on panel, 6x6
Powell Gardens Lily Pond

Nature Trail Pond

Nature Trail Pond
Powell Gardens
Kingsville, Missouri

This peaceful setting is in Kingsville, Missouri at Powell Gardens.  There is a nature trail - called the Byron Shutz - that takes you right past this pond and around the skirt of the whole property.  On such a warm and windy June day, this little place of solace was out of the hustle and bustle of the normal garden traffic.  I just love the landscapes that take me back to my childhood.  Visiting my great uncle's farm in Adrian, Missouri and my weekly trips to visit my dearest Grandma Frank -were places of pastures, woods and ponds.  I still love this time of year when the frogs are popping out, and their sweet music is lulling me to sleep each night.  Such is life in the country, and I don't think I could ever go back to the suburbs.  This is painting number 178 in 178 days.  Now it is time for a nice glass of wine :)