My McCartney Rose......

I'm so glad I went outside to check on my flowers. We're due to get some rain later today (yay!) but I wanted to check on the flowers on the side of our garage. I hadn't watered them in a while, and I was hoping they were OK.

So thrilled to see that my McCartney rose is flourishing! It's almost 5 feet tall and looks as healthy as ever. Seems my fertilizing a while back was heartily welcomed! I love this rose: the color- such a pure, true pink; the gorgeous tea-rose fragrance; the glossy green of the beautifully shaped leaves. And to think I bought it because it was named after Paul McCartney!

I've already done a painting of this rose a few years ago. I just may have to do another one. Better get more rose madder genuine!

Allentown 2009......

The Allentown Art Festival has come and gone for another year. How lucky we were with the

weather! The view on the left is of Delaware Ave. early Sunday morning, hours before the crowds appear. We got there pretty early to ensure we got a good parking spot- boy we wished there was a Tim Horton's nearby!

The photo on the right is the view looking into my booth. And yes.....that is a painting hanging on a tree! While setting up, I noticed a screw in the tree and decided to hang a painting on it. Later on I asked my husband if he had put the screw there last year. I didn't really have to ask! Engineers are a resourceful bunch! I ended up selling that painting, too!

The photo on the left is taken at the award ceremony Saturday evening. My motorcycle painting is in the center with a blue ribbon on the upper right. What a thrill, an absolute thrill. The award ceremony is so nice- they do such a great job. At the end of the day Saturday, we are all so exhausted- hot, sweaty, hungry, etc.. and they have great pizza, cookies and drinks for us to munch on before the ceremony begins. SO thoughtful!

There I am on the right getting the official photos taken.....and I just LOVE having my picture taken!! (Grrrr.!!) For some reason, I never look like Angelina Jolie in the photos! Damn.

A wonderful festival all around. A good friend of mine won second place after me, and another friend on 1st place in abstract watercolor. It makes it so much better when talented friends win, too.

Returning to Quebec City.....

It's been nice to get back to painting again! I laid down some tonal washes on the old stone walls of the buildings, plus I got in some detail work to help establish some darks. The buildings on the upper left have a lot of woodwork- boy will that take some time to do! The windows will also require a lot of detail work.

For the gold trim I'm using burnt umber, burnt sienna with some sepia thrown in. The stone road and building washes are a mixture of burnt umber, burnt sienna, french ultramarine, sepia, and a little cobalt blue. The green in the flower basket in the front is mostly sap green with some windsor yellow and a little indigo and burnt sienna.

I'll have little time to work on Quebec City this week, with the summer art festival season beginning this weekend with the Allentown Art Festival. I have no idea how it will be this year, and I'm definitely anxious about it. Will people be looking to buy, or will they be "just looking?" The amount of work required to do these shows is enormous....yikes! Not sure if I'm ready for all of it! We shall see!

My favorite columbine......

I love my columbine! I had never known that these gorgeous wildflowers even existed! When my kids were little, they would give me handfulls of these beautiful wildflowers that they picked in the woods behind our house. All moms know there is nothing better than flowers presented so lovingly in little sweaty hands! Plus, I had never seen columbine before! I love their unusual shape and soft white color.

I worked very hard to create a columbine garden in the shaded area behind our garage. These beauties love shade, so the north garden worked perfectly. I am so glad that the columbine have flourished there. I'm trying hard to keep them going. Anytime I see columbine in the stores, I never see my white variety for sale. I think it's important to save and protect native wildflowers. Lately I haven't seen any more growing in the woods. Important to nurture my garden all the more. Plus, I love the memory these flowers give me of those "flowers for mom" days! Now if only I could do them justice in a painting!