Ordinary Days

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.
~John Ruskin



I've been working on my garden, planting seeds and hoping and praying that all I plant grows.  I seem to have a great deal of faith when it comes to my garden.  Or, I just enjoy the surprises that spring out of the dirt - or in my case carefully prepared soil. I think the rabbits are enjoying some of these surprises too.  I actually threw a couple of stones at a rabbit hoping she would run off and not nibble on my flowers anymore.  She's eaten my verbena, my marigolds and my lillies.  She didn't budge.  And as my boyfriend said, "Who throws stones at bunny rabbits?" Well, apparently I do when it comes to flowers.  But the bunny didn't budge.  She loves them as much as I do.  I guess I'll have to plant more - some for me and some for the bunny. 

My Flowers

 
Where flowers bloom so does hope. 
 Lady Bird Johnson

I guess I was growing hope as much as flowers this year.  This little vase holds all flowers I grew this year - marigolds, bitty zinnias and lavender.  For more info about this painting just go here. And there's alot more hope where that came from.

(Thanks Sue at A Brush with Color for having so many great quotes that I borrow!  She's a kindred spirit - watercolor artist and quote collector.)

Zinnias, Zinnias, Zinnias

For purchase info click here.
It seems like such a long, long summer - so very hot and full of lots of work and even more changes.  But one thing that keeps me sane is that you really can't screw up when you plant zinnias.  They are the easiest to grow and I must say the happiest flower I know.  It looks like they're laughing in my yard.  It's a gray, rainy day here in St. Louis so I must hurry and get back to my place on the couch and enjoy the dreary coolness.  (My cat is snoring as I type this - silly thing.)
To purchase click here

Home with my Zinnias

Hey there my blogger friends, I know it's been awhile.  I've been so busy with work, travel and a little vacation.  In the next couple of weeks I'll post some of the paintings I did on my travels - just have some finishing touches. 

This is the first cutting of Zinnias from my garden - love painting these too.  And they look so pretty in a beautiful terracotta pitcher I bought in Spain this past month.  I'll tell you more about that later. But for now just glad to be home.  This is what I do once I get home after I've been away for a bit.

1. Hug and kiss Baby Kitty until she howls and wishes I would leave again.
2. Cut flowers from my garden.
3. Thank God that my home is still standing when I get back.
4. Wish I had cut the grass before I left.
5. Go see Kennedy to see if she missed me - so far she hasn't noticed.
6. Make coffee and sit on my back porch.
7. Weed.
8. Paint the flowers I just cut for a vase.

"Focused" for Illustration Friday

The topic this week for Illustration Friday is
Focused
Needless to say I have very little of it and I'm discovering through a course I'm taking on line that focus is one element necessary to achieve success. I would have to say focus is my weakest area. "So much going on, so many great ideas, so many things to do, things to paint, things to see, money to earn, clothes to iron" - you get the picture. So this is a visual of my life/my mind. And what it takes for me to get to the point - that tiny dot and paint. And really, all the other stuff really doesn't hold as much meaning as "this" thing called art. Yet all that other stuff can be quite a distraction - a deterrent from the thing in life that is most important.