Garden Bridge

I will never tire of painting this place!  The Overland Park Arboretum is one of my favorite places to paint, and I LOVE sneaking away for a couple hours to soak in the beauty!  This garden is ever changing, with blooms in transition from one blush to another.  Oils are my medium today, and the rich buttery texture is perfect to describe the flora and water.  It is so very peaceful to paint in a garden, and I'm so happy to come here when I can. Painting number 3883 in 3883 days. 

Monet's Bridge Impressions

What a beautiful day for painting in Monet's Garden, at the Overland Park Arboretum!  It was planting day at the arboretum, and this garden was full of gardeners in the morning. So after painting the Erikson garden first, I returned to capture it's beauty.  It is a later spring this year, and the lily pads are only beginning to grow on the pond.  I've never seen the Dame's Rockets bloom here - so I had to stand near them, including them in my painting.  I only just added them to my own garden last year, a transplant from my youngest daughter's new house, and I love them.  I've seen them for years along roadsides and abandoned old farmhouses, a vintage bloom from years gone by.  I love the memories flowers evoke, and the timeless nature of every bloom.  Painting number 4226 in 4226 days. 

Monet's Garden

 Oh the beauty of Monet's Garden!!  I missed getting to paint this during the spring Stems plein air event, since this arboretum was closed until June. I got season passes for mom and I, and this is our third time here since it reopened.  Meeting the Monday Morning Watercolorists from 9 to 11, it was the perfect day for painting in a garden!  The flowers are so tall this time of year - I could hardly see over them from my camp stool!  Can't wait to enjoy this arboretum through all the months ahead!  Painting number 2808 in 2808 days. 

Monet Painting his Garden

There is a wonderful statue of Monet, seated on a bench at his easel, at the far right of this garden.  He is perfectly located to paint all the grandeur of this very special place, which is on the left.  The curved bridge is the focal point of his gaze.  Behind all of this is Margaret's Pond, with it's distant trees and subtle reflections. This landscape was perfect for the long format, using a new paper and my raven black ink.  I really love the flow and spread of this ink.  The more I use it, the more I like it.  Good thing I have a large bottle of it!  Painting number 1972 in 1972 days. This one is now showing at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center in Overland Park, KS.

Monet Painting his Garden

Today I am experimenting with a new paper I picked up at my favorite local art store - Creative Coldsnow.  This one is a little creamier in color than my usual paper, and has a stiffer, yet thinner feel.  When I drop a little water on it - the paper turns very transparent until it dries.  The ink bleeds well, though does not move as readily as watercolor paper.  I love the long fibers in it, which leave wonderful ragged edges.  This is a printer's paper, which I've never tried before. The jury is still out on it's use for actual watercolor, but I think it could be magical for the inks.  I'm hoping to draw a larger one on site in the morning,  since the trial went so well!  Painting number 1954 in 1954 days.

ink on paper, 6x9
purchase here

Allium in Monet's Garden

I am so at home in a garden!  After working a couple of hours in my own flowers, I headed over to the Arboretum with my daughter.  We are both participating in Stems Plein Air this year!  I'm so happy to have some time to paint with her before her internship starts.  Monet's Garden may just be my favorite place to paint here, and today this spot called the loudest.  The allium are simply stunning this year, so I choose a location with these beauties in the foreground.  I drew this out in ink first, then made a slight adjustment before committing to paint.  I do wish I had a little purple on my palette - it would be perfect for those allium!  I'll be sure and bring it tomorrow, because I may just zoom in on those blooms!  Painting number 1945 in 1945 days.  Such a peaceful place to paint!

Illusions of Allium

I first came to this spot when I arrived.  Unsure about the composition, I walked all around the lake in search of perfect subject matter.  I found myself back in front of the allium.  This garden is known for these big, beautiful purple blooms, and they called me in.  Sketching first, I started laying in the blooms and the darks.  I rarely paint a garden scene from the distance.  Either I take in the whole view,  or I get up close and personal,  but not this "in between".  So, feeling rather unnatural,  I forged ahead with brush and paint and loose strokes.  Is it too loose?  Maybe....but I like the flow of it.  This painting makes 1240 in 1240 days.

Illusions of Allium
Oil on panel, 14x11
Overland Park Arboretum
sold

Dreaming in Monet's Garden

Dreaming of Monet's Garden
Oil on panel, 12x9
Stems Event - purchase here

This garden is the crowning jewel of the Overland Park arboretum.   I return to it year after year, to recapture it's beauty in oils.  I had to work fast, with only two hours left before closing.  Before I even had the panel covered, raindrops started to fall....so I tilted my panel downward a little,  to get the surface dry.  Slapping on that paint, the surface was soon covered.  I no longer had to worry,  as the oils resist the rain.  Thunder threatened, but the clouds never broke overhead.  Before I knew it, a park employee was informing was informing a fellow artist and I that the arboretum was now closed,  and we should make our way to the exit.   Well, I guess they really do check before they lock up!  Painting number 1237 in 1237 days.

Morning in Monet's Garden

Morning in Monet's Garden
Oil on panel. 14x11
Overland Park Arboretum - Stems

This morning was the perfect morning to be out painting at the Arboretum!  Almost no breeze, fabulous light, and the constant trickle of the water set the mood for this painting.  I have painted this bridge at Monet's Garden each year I have been participating in the Stems plein air event - and still it intrigues me.  Each time, I approach it from a different angle - and today I was on the south side of it for the first time.  The light is harder to manage from this direction, and the water reflected colors near and far.  I had to leave before I was ready - my monthly Tri County Art League meeting was calling.  It is so hard to leave a painting when you are in the zone! This one makes 138 in 138 days.

On location

Easel set up

June in Monet's Garden

June in Monet's Garden
Oil on panel, 14x18

I started this painting during the STEMS plein air event at the Overland Park Arboretum.  The day was hot and I had to set up under a small tree opposite this scene.  Another artist warned me of snakes so near the water - and not long after a very long snake swam across the lake toward this little inlet on the left!  I finished the sky and the water today, as well as cooling off many of the very warm tones I had painted in the heat.  I also widened the path to gently lead the eye more deeply into the painting.  In reality, the flowers are so dense - they divide the landscape in half, hardly showing the narrow path.  I barely got this 38th painting done under the wire!