Spring officially arrived this week and brought some warmer weather with it, so I’ve enjoyed spending a lot of time outdoors working on my garden. After I took the first spring photo (above), I went on to clean both the front yard and the back yard to get it ready for mulch. I’m thinking Tom and I may lay all the mulch ourselves this year instead of hiring a landscaper. The front yard won’t be so bad, but the back yard is four times the size. So no promises… let’s see how we do!
We’re looking forward to the blooming of some new bulbs we added this year to brighten up the yard. We were very pleasantly surprised with the beauty of our winter garden with its shades of red, green, blue, yellow, and burgundy. Even in the cold, gray winter, our garden was a lovely splash of color. Claire from Exceptional Gardens designed it for us. The way everything works so well together in our small space is a living testimonial to her talent.
In addition to our ongoing art project in our garden, art is happening in my studio as well. The Grand View Ship Hotel painting is taking shape, and progress is being made. What started as a thumbnail sketch was turned into a pen-and-ink drawing, then it was enlarged and transferred onto the museum pastel board, carefully (dare I say meticulously?) redefined, and then sprayed to be painted over.
I have actually started brushing watercolor on as an underpainting. This will help map out the piece before I start using my pastels. I also painted a small pastel color version to get a feel for what I want the mood to be in the piece. (This is basically just a helpful exercise for me, not really something worth showing you.) I hope to have more progress to share with you next week.
Enjoy the weather, enjoy spring… and as always, stay tuned!