Thursday, April 29, 2010

A Secret Garden Oil Painting

"Karla's Garden"
5" x 7"
oil on gessoed masonite
This month's Calypso Moon Artist's Movement challenge is to paint a place where you like to go and enjoy the scenery - a pond, a garden, a flower dept. at the store - a secret garden. 

Right now, my gardens, although some planted, aren't what you call a place to go sit and enjoy yet.  So I remembered a place where I relished the opportunity to go to. It was at Karla's secluded homestead in the mountains above Denver.  Karla is always on the 'garden tour' every year. She has lovely flower and vegetable gardens and is a gardener extraordinaire. 

Recently I found the negative from one of the photo shoots I did while 'garden sitting' there - (they had taken their daughter back east to her first year of college.)  I used my trusty little negative reader (thanks mom and dad) and made the negative into a digital image and used it for this painting.  It had been in my stack of "things to paint" - this challenge nudged me right into painting it.  And here you have it and although I can't go there anymore...too far away, I think about that lovely place in the cool mountain air on a sunny summer's day, windchimes swaying in the gentle breeze.  She had a great hammock that you could lay down in and just breathe it all in.  It was Zen. And of course the other attraction for me was her horses, chickens, dogs and cats. 
Took care of them, too!
BTW - this one is in my Etsy shop.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Very nice painting!

I really love the big white flower & the way the background grasses? Are portrayed!

Best wishes always!

Dana

Barbara Pask said...

Just beautiful Pattie, I can see why this is one of your favorite places. Really nice sense of light.

Pattie Wall said...

Thanks Dana and Barb! Your kind words mean alot.

Ellen Burkett said...

This is so pretty, without that "florist's hyper-sweetness" look. These flowers look real and earthy and just wonderful.

Earthula said...

The repetition of the yellow and the lines in the petals gives the impression of the gentle breeze.

Nice garden.

Vern Schwarz said...

Beautiful garden and beautiful painting Pattie. I really like that large white flower just off center, with all the yellow guys tipped toward her.

Paula said...

This is a fabulous painting. I love the colors and the fading from light to dark, left to right. The pop of purple in the right corner keeps catching my eye but the white bloom brings it back to center. Just gorgeous.

Pattie Wall said...

Thanks Ellen, Elaine and Vern - I don't do florist's hypersweetness, both my daughter and stepdaughter are floral designers on the 'high end' - where it would be considered a TRUE art form...and let it be known I much prefer those kinds of flowers. It's hard for me to do FTD. That white flower is the focal point, at least some are reading it the way it's meant to be. Yeah!

Pattie Wall said...

Thanks Paula! I am glad the composition is working for you! It works for me..!

Alice Thompson said...

Pattie, I can't tell you how much I enjoy seeing your submissions showing up in my email box. I know that I'm going get something GOOD!
This piece dances so happily. I don't know how you manage to take care of eight acres and a handful of lovely creatures and find time to paint. You must have a secret!

More NEW art pieces

  Lukki - watercolor 9" x 12" acrylic done from Unsplash ph ref, thanks C Deluvio!