I painted this after I'd done the jacaranda tree on Sunday. It's a tangle of elder, plumbago and jasmine - which has died down now. The brown bit at the top is our shingle roof. As you can see, the garden is not very well tended, but I rather like tangles and under- and overgrowth (luckily!) We had a huge hailstorm the other day so all this is looking a bit bedraggled and the jacaranda flowers are mostly on the ground.
I've just found this old watercolour I did of a plumbago flower, one of our indigenous and drought resistant plants, that I painted for a friend, who uses it on her business (called Plumbago Blu) card. That's what the blueish smudges in my Sunday sketch are!
I painted this after I'd done the jacaranda tree on Sunday. It's a tangle of elder, plumbago and jasmine - which has died down now. The brown bit at the top is our shingle roof. As you can see, the garden is not very well tended, but I rather like tangles and under- and overgrowth (luckily!) We had a huge hailstorm the other day so all this is looking a bit bedraggled and the jacaranda flowers are mostly on the ground.
I've just found this old watercolour I did of a plumbago flower, one of our indigenous and drought resistant plants, that I painted for a friend, who uses it on her business (called Plumbago Blu) card. That's what the blueish smudges in my Sunday sketch are!
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12 comments:
Hi Cathy these are just great paintings. I think you are achieving a degree of abstraction which goes beyond the subject and is just beautiful.
Have you tried making elderflower cordial from your elder-flowers? It is delicious
Thanks Vivienne - I just added the older fairly realistic pic - I must say I enjoy doing the loose, more abstracted paintings, and they suit my eyesight better!
I'm going to look up a recipe for the cordial, thanks....
I too rathr like under and overgrowth -- especially when it's 'implied' with just a few perfect strokes and daubs.
I just LOVE the Plumbago Cathy! Forget-me-not, isn't it? Your colour is spot-on. And the 'tangled mess' is great!
Hi Charlene and Maree - plumbago aren't forget-me-nots... I wasn't sure what they were either until another friend asked me to paint them almost exactly a year ago on this post... http://asketchintime.blogspot.com/2008/11/forget-me-not.html ... and I had to do some research. They are much smaller and closer to the ground!
I am with Carlene, dip and daps and over and under gardens. That's me to a tea. I like that you have the plants that are around my neck of the woods only you are in spring and I am going into winter. Is hail a normal event for your weather?
Beautiful! I planted some dwarf plumbago in the border of my studio path and the bloom was a true, deep blue. Now, in the fall, the leaves have turned a rusty red. I love it!
Love your tangled garden Cathy! And the plumbago. I'm sure this is the flower that has a sticky end and as kids we used to use them as 'earrings'!
Hi Pat - hail is pretty normal in summer now and then, but the last time we had heavy hailstorms with big stones, it preceded about 10 years of drought (the El Nino weather pattern), so I really hope that doesn't happen!
Suzanne there are some gorgeous new varieties, I think I must get out and update my garden, it's all very old and established.
Liz, yes it is... and brooches and hair adornments... a great natural addition to dressing-up!
You won't remember, but in the days when Zimbabwe was Rhodesia, someone started a "Plumbago Day",when people were encouraged to wear a plumbago buttonhole to celebrate our founder, Cecil John Rhodes .. his birthday perhaps. It never really took off, but I remember thinking what a strange choice for a FAVOURITE flower!
They grow well here in Perth too, and are used in lots of hedgeing now that is 'in'.
I'm in awe of your beautiful plumbago watercolour, Cathy, having tried one myself some time back.
I love the idea of plumbago in a buttonhole, V. My childhood mems of the flower; tearing off a sprig, enjoying it's sticky 'Velcro' nature and wearing it as a corsage. I'm happy to say it is growing WELL here in Sugar Land too - in my garden!! A lovely connection to ya'll! Would love be in your spring garden right now, C - enjoying the jacarandas. Your w/c's take me there.
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