Category: Gardening

Zen & First Spring Roses

Ink & watercolor, 9×6″ (larger)

When I picked these roses yesterday evening, they were heartbreakingly fresh, new and beautiful. I put them in a vase of water in the kitchen, planning to paint them today. This morning I found them laying on the counter where they’d obviously been without water too long and looked limp.

Either they jumped out of their vase or my cats had a hand (er… paw) in their escape. After a few hours back in water they plumped right back up and were a joy to draw. I only had about an hour and that was just enough time to make a happy ink and watercolor.

But why do I feel so sad seeing the beauty of my seven rose bushes and thick patch of irises all loaded with flowers? It’s as if I’m already mourning their demise, knowing how temporary their burst of color and vibrancy is before winter comes again.

Is it my enhanced awareness of the cycle of life and death as I approach one of those milestone birthdays this June? Or is that time seems to be moving so fast these days that I can picture the blooming season flying by like those time-lapse films where the flowers sprout, bloom, shrivel and die within moments.

Instead of feeling sad about their demise (and my own, for that matter), I need to remember the Buddhist teaching of being in the present moment, accepting that everything changes, everything dies; that desire and clinging cause suffering and that letting go relieves it.

So with that, I will allow my flowers to live and die as nature sees fit (as if I had any other choice!), and will enjoy them while they’re here. I’ll try to make the most of my own moments while I’m here too, with as much acceptance as I can. And maybe I’ll finally return to my Zen meditation practice which always brought me such joy and peace, and made all of life more vibrant.

Tags Cats, Glass, ink sketch, Pen and Ink, roses, Watercolor, Zen

Gardening Painting Plants Sketchbook Pages Still Life

More Last Tomatoes

Watercolor on Arches 140 lb hot press paper drawn first in blue Micron Pigma pen, 5.5″ 7.5″
Larger

Yesterday I cleaned up my four tomato plants, removing all the dead leaves and icky, gooshy tomatoes (without screaming once — squooshy, slimey things scare me) and was delighted to discover an abundance of still quite lovely tomatoes, ripe and ready to be picked. I was sure when I painted the last bunch of tomatoes that they were truly the last, but we’ve had some wonderful summer weather all over again and the tomatoes just keep on doing their thing.

I piled them in this old stoneware bowl and stuck them in the fridge. I’ve been working on an oil painting family portrait (more about that tomorrow) and have been neglecting my blog. So I decided to stop working on the oil painting, and loosen up with the tomatoes and some watercolor in my sketchbook.

Now back to the portrait. If I don’t finish it tomorrow I’ll post the work in progress. The painting was inspired by looking through some baby pictures of my son with his father and grandfather that we wanted to bring on a visit to my father-in-law. He’s been very ill and on Thursday night he thoroughly enjoyed seeing the pictures (and us). I was hoping to finish the painting before he died and to share it with him but sadly/blessedly he passed away this morning. If the painting turns out well enough, I’ll bring it to his memorial. In the meantime it’s been a blessing for me to lovingly paint his smiling face, knowing it would not be visible much longer.

Tags Drawing, Ink, Painting, sketchbook, tomatoes, Watercolor

Gardening Painting Plants Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Funny tomatoes from my garden

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date September 15, 2007
8 Comments on Funny tomatoes from my garden

Ink & watercolor on Arches cold pressed paper in 6×8 sketchbook
Larger

I don’t know why some of my tomatoes are growing so strangely, with funny little noses and other appendages. Maybe they’re a little crowded? Or it’s just the nature of this type. I’ve got 5 plants of different types of tomatoes and these are the only ones doing this. I live in a normally foggy summer area and last year my tomatoes didn’t get ripe until the end of October. This year they’re doing great as it’s been lovely sunny weather all summer.

I’ve been trying to figure out whether it’s sunlight or warmth that makes tomatoes get ripe. I’m guessing it’s the sunlight but maybe it’s both. If it was hot out but dark all the time, or very bright and sunny but cold, they wouldn’t ripen. But what makes them ripen? I know I could just look this up somewhere but it’s more fun to try to mull it over and come up with theories… But if you know, please do tell!

I’m also curious if what makes tomatoes ripen is the same thing that makes peaches or plums ripen (they’re both reddish) but what about green things. Do they need to ripen to? I’ve never heard of ripe spinach or ripe lettuce.

Tags Pen and Ink

Flower Art Gardening Landscape Outdoors/Landscape Plants Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Tilden Botanical Garden

Serpentine Cone Flower
Ink and watercolor in large Moleskine watercolor notebook
Click here to see enlarged

Today I went to Berkeley’s Tilden Park Botanical Gardens with Richard. It’s a lovely, serene place filled with California native plants and trees from giant redwoods to wildflowers. He hiked around the hills, fields, bridges, creeks and wooded areas, enjoying the quiet breeze and birdsong. Most of the flowering plants had already done their big blooming in the spring but these coneflowers grabbed my interest so I sat down on the grass and did this quick sketch while Richard, a photographer, took close up shots of flowers.

Then we decided to move on to Blake Gardens. Richard had never been there and there were many parts of the estate I’d never explored, so we hiked all around there too, finding amazing jewels of nature and design at every turn. We took lots of photos but since time was limited and we wanted to see everything, I didn’t do another drawing. Now that I’ve seen the full scope of what’s there I think it holds promise for unlimited painting opportunities.

Tags Pen and Ink, Plein Air

Every Day Matters Flower Art Gardening Plants Plein Air Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Iris in my Garden (EDM: Fresh)

Post author By Jana Bouc
Post date April 9, 2007
18 Comments on Iris in my Garden (EDM: Fresh)

Watercolor in Canson 7 x 10″ Sketchbook
To enlarge, click image, select All Sizes

I’d planned to spend my painting time in the studio today but it was too gorgeous outside to stay indoors. So I pulled up a lawn chair and painted this iris in my front yard. I drew it in pencil and then added watercolor, all the while listening to birds chirping (and the sounds of the nearby freeway which I pretend is the ocean), with the sun shining, the bees buzzing around me and the wind blowing my hair.

These irises are heart-breakingly beautiful. They are so fragile and temporary. One day they’re proudly blooming, thrusting their strong, wild purpleness proudly up to the sun and the next day they’ve turned to a little wisp of gelatinous film, drooping sadly from their stalk. I’m glad I was able to sit with this one for an hour and enjoy it’s beauty before it’s gone.

Tags Plein Air

Gardening Life in general Outdoors/Landscape Photos Plants Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

Sister Spa Day

Watercolor & Ink in small Moleskine watercolor notebook
To enlarge, click images

Yesterday I treated my sister Marcy to a sisters’ spa day at the wonderful Osmosis Day Spa in Freestone, CA and then dinner at the Union Hotel in Occidental.

We started with a tea ceremony in their Japanese garden and then had enzyme baths which was the most relaxing experience I’ve ever had. After putting on lovely Japanese robes, we were escorted to a private room with a glass sliding wall facing another zen garden and pond.

In the room were two large cement tubs piled with fragrent cedar sawdust, soft rice bran and enzymes imported from Japan. After climbing in, we were each buried up to our chins with this warm, heavy stuff. It was like being in the most comfortable recliner ever, and like being in a womb. Beautiful music played while we relaxed and for once my mind went completely blank. Every five minutes our beautiful attendant arrived to refresh the cool washcloth on our forehead, gently wipe our faces with a cool cloth and give us sips of water. Because of the enzymes, the sawdust gets warmer and warmer until it’s time to get out after 20 minutes.

Thoroughly baked to just the right temperature, our attendant helped us out, brushed us off and then we showered before moving on to our heavenly 75 minute massages. Speaking of baking, across the street from the spa is the Wildflour Bakery, where Marcy bought a loaf of “Sticky Bun” bread which was hot out of the oven filled with rich, melting cinnamon and nuts.

After the massages we retreated to the zen garden and sat in the open air meditation gazebo (seen in the photo above). Marcy sat on the provided meditation cushions watching the Koi and meditating until she dozed off and almost fell over. Then she joined me on my bench where I was making the sketch at the top, of the view from the gazebo (photo below).

By then it was nearly four and since we’d skipped lunch we headed a few miles west to Occidental for dinner at the Union Hotel. The second sketch at the top is what was sitting on the bar in the cafe at the hotel along with several more large clay bunny statues. Then it was a lovely 1 1/2 hour ride back home through the most brilliantly green fields covered in yellow and white wildflowers. For city girls it was fun seeing all the horses, cows, sheep, lambs, llamas, a few deer, a squashed skunk, and many hawks out in the beautiful country.

“Pull over, I have to pet those horses,” Marcy said. So we drove down someone’s dirt road to pet the horsies, who were only interested in us long enough to determine we had no food for them and then went back to eating grass. The car above is in the side garden at Osmosis–a bit incongruous but I’m sure there’s a story behind it.

Tags Pen and Ink, Photos

Animals Gardening Plants Watercolor

Hummingbird nest

Ink and watercolor on Arches paper, 10×8″ drawn from actual nest
To enlarge, click image, select All Sizes

I’ve been watching some little brown birds make a nest under my neighbor’s eaves the past few days and this morning I pointed it out to them. It was fun to see the smiles on the little kids’ faces. Then they showed me this hummingbird’s nest that they found in a tree they were trimming last week.

Yessie, their little girl, had brought it to school for sharing but since their house is very tiny, with no room for anything extra, they’d just put the nest in their recycling bin. It was nicely packaged in a thin plastic container with holes that originally held 4 pounds of red table grapes–just the right size for the little branches and nest to fit into. They were happy to give the it to me and I will treasure it.

The nest is a marvel of engineering, only 1 1/2 ” (3.5 cm) in diameter. The inside is wonderfully padded with what looks like dryer lint and a few downy feathers. The outside is made of tiny pieces of moss and lichen. I can’t tell how they attached it to the branches but it’s firmly attached. It looks so cozy I wish I had one my size to curl up in.

Here’s a photo of a similar hummingbird nest with babies in it and a link to a site about hummers.

Tags Animals, Pen and Ink

Gardening Outdoors/Landscape Plants Sketchbook Pages Watercolor

A Morning Walk

A neighbor’s beautiful front garden and purple house

Ink and watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor notebook
Click images, select All Sizes to enlarge

The creek by Peets Coffee and Albany Hill

Today I woke to a beautiful spring day and went for a walk with my sketchbook and little paint set, planning to end up at the creek for another try at painting it. I find it quite challenging (impossible, really) to make something that looks like a creek amidst trees and spring greenery. But a few blocks from my house I spotted a beautifully landscaped yard in front of a tiny blue and purple house and had to stop and paint the blossoming fruit (?) tree surrounded by what I always think of as Martian plants (a little painting of one kind here). But they’re really called Euphorbia (photo of this kind), which is almost “euphoria” and always makes me wonder how it got named that.

So being a word-loving dictionary nerd I had to look it up. It wasn’t very exciting: “From Latin, euphorbea after Euphorbus, first-century Greek physician.” Also, “Euphorbiaceae: very large genus of diverse plants all having milky juice.” I think I’ll just keep calling it Martian plant since it’s so otherworldly looking.

But euphoria — what an interesting definition: ” A feeling of great happiness or well-being, commonly exaggerated and not necessarily well founded.” Hmmmmm, that makes me stop and ponder. If I’m feeling unfounded happiness or well-being, I’m not about to question it! Bring it on!

Tags Pen and Ink

Acrylic Painting Gardening Other Art Blogs I Read Outdoors/Landscape Photos

An Artful Life

I’m doing something different today, inspired by a visit to my best friend Barbara’s house today — I’m sharing some of her wonderful artwork and photos of her garden. She truly lives an artful life and every corner of her little house and garden has something to delight the eye and spirit.

Images can be enlarged by clicking them and selecting “All Sizes”

Left: Life size ceramic woman (celebrating retirement and gardening). Right: View from the front porch. Just beyond this is the lush vegetable garden.

When Barbara retired not too long ago, she completely redesigned the tiny rental cottage beside her 3-story house in North Berkeley, sold the big house, and moved into the cottage with her husband and teenage daughter. Barbara is an amazing gardener and artist.

Above: Cottage front. Barbara created this mosaic on the foundation of the cottage using broken pottery and her handmade ceramic chickens.

Left: Barbara’s mosaic studio she built herself from recycled doors, windows and other things. Right: Path in her garden

Two pretty corners in the garden. Left: A ceramic gardening woman holding a carrot and a tall mosaic garden mirror.

Left: Whimsical ceramic whistles in Barbara’s sunny kitchen and a graceful ceramic woman in the hallway window. She started by making ceramic whistles and then learned how to make Ocarinas. I wonder if the female sculpture was inspired by our figure drawing sessions.

Two canvas painted “rugs” on the kitchen floor by the sink and fridge. I have rugs on my kitchen floor in those spots too, but they’re ugly things from the hardware store.

Above: Even the laundry room is artful. The detergent is hidden inside a tapestry cover.

Two of Barbara’s acrylic cactus paintings from back in the day (after she was a fabulous silversmith making exquisite silver jewelry when we first met, but before she became a teacher). During her years as a teacher she stopped painting and focused her art on quilting. Now she’s painting on her ceramics and plans to start painting on canvas again too.

I’m looking forward to some time painting in her garden. It’s about as close to heaven as you can get in Berkeley, especially when it comes with her homemade lemonade!

Tags Acrylic Painting, Photos

Flower Art Gardening Sketchbook Pages Still Life Watercolor

Where did my muse go?

Watercolor then Pentel Brush pen in large Moleskine watercolor notebook
(To enlarge, click image, select “All Sizes”)

I spotted these roses in my garden this morning, still blooming, even with morning frost and rain. I’ve enjoyed having them in the house and tonight decided to make a quick painting of them for posting.

I’ve been sleepy and uninspired all day today. First I lost yesterday to a migraine, then today all sorts of things got in the way of painting. I had to take Busby to the vet for a sudden bladder problem. When I got home I realized that I couldn’t put off vacuuming any longer so spent a couple hours cleaning house. Then I didn’t get into the studio until after 3:00 because I fell asleep in my recliner after eating lunch. I guess I’m still recovering from yesterday’s major migraine.

Once I found my way to the studio I worked on an oil painting for a few hours and I think I finished it but will wait to look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow to see if more is needed.

Hopefully tomorrow my inspiration, energy and muse will return.