Joining Rain's Thursday Art Date the theme this week is leaves and branches. Not prepared as usual but I found some in my archive ....
Watercolour ferns, it was a lucky day when I got the paint to the right consistency and had a very nice fine brush! I have tried since and not been able to get the same neat result.
This one was fun, copying leaves I found in the woods
and one painted on silk... the results are always a surprise as the inks drift and do their own thing.
I went for a walk (with my son in the woods yesterday after work) to admire the bluebells and found a huge amount of wild garlic down by the river, I picked some which we had in our salad last night. Have you tried it? the mild flavour is like nothing you can get in the shops. We are lucky to have all these wild things growing so close.
(quorn veggie slices, avocado and salad)
Are you seeing wild flowers in your neighbourhood? During lockdowns our local authority didn't cut or spray the verges with pesticide and as a result we are getting a wonderful array (herb robert, borage, dandelion, valerian).
Nice work.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteLove your paintings. I am love spending Spring noticing flowers, I always intend to do it for the rest of the summer but it never quite happens in the same ways as in the Spring. I do love noticing the flowers in spring.
ReplyDeleteI take pictures on my walks and have some books to identify the wildflowers, if you can do that you will soon get to enjoy it more
DeleteYour art is so beautiful, I love it!
ReplyDeleteWe've got wild garlic growing in our garden in abundance. It's lovely in a salad, isn't it? I made pesto with it a few years ago but so rarely eat pasta it went to waste. Your lunch looks delicious! xxx
Thank you Vix, you would love garlic in your salads, decorating your pizza and maybe adorning your curries - the flower heads are packed with delicious little white pods
DeleteI've neve rhad wild garlic. How wonderful you could find some. And I love the leaf paintings! I don't really live in a neighborhood with wild flowers. I'd love to see what will be happening in the north soon. But not yet!
ReplyDeleteThankyou Jeanie, I hope you can find some wild garlic, it has a lovely mild flavour and the little flowers hold all the yummy granule like pods bursting with flavour
DeleteWhat a funny new comment box! Not sure whether I've already done it but x2 is better than not at all!! Anyhoot, I love the look of that salad. What do the dandelion flowers taste like? I went to the cemetery last week and was thoroughly dismayed to see that the local council have unreservedly sprayed weedkiller (probably Roundup) along all the available grass verges and as near to the graves as they could possible get with it. They're doing it all around this county so I've signed the petition to get it stopped. That stuff is lethal to man and beast alike. Love your fern painting and the silk is gorgeous too. xxx
ReplyDeleteBlogger has changed the box, not me - I just noticed. Yes I really wish they wouldn't spray things, there's no need - since they gave our weeds a break we have valerian coming up in pavement cracks, toadflax in walls and an abundance of bluebells have spread to every nook and cranny and even gardens (never mine though, they don't like me for some reason!).
DeleteThose are beautiful watercolors - the colors in the leaves are stunning and I especially like how you painted the unfurling fern. Yes, we do have wildflowers here, they start out as early as late January and now of course, it is the season of the California poppy. They are everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIs the Californian poppy the yellow one? if it is I am imagining it, very beautiful.
DeleteBetty, the composition you have made with the leaves painted with watercolor on silk has been beautiful
ReplyDeleteThank you Norma. I haven't painted for such a long time but as I gave my paintings away (mostly to a church to make flags for the children to wave) I should do one again some day
DeleteYour painting is always so wonderful Betty - I don't know how you do that detailed work - it amazes me. Love the leaves. I have been walking around my local Lake this past week & the leaves are turning orange & falling now - a pretty time but not as pretty as your bluebells. xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Julie. My hands aren't so flexible these days but there are lots of other ways to be creative. I love Autumn leaves, if only we could preserve them well.
DeleteBeautiful ferns and dappled maple, the silk painting is so subtle I love watching how the colours absorb into that thirsty fabric. Happy TAD Tracey x
ReplyDeleteIsnt it an enjoyable hobby? but it takes so much time and space and has become expensive so I haven't done for years now.
DeleteYum yum!!! luv the food. And the art
ReplyDeletemuch💛love
Your leaf drawings are stunning. They are so very realistic. That fern was a knockout.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of Quorn veggie slices before, but since I'm a vegetarian, the meal looks wonderful. And the avocado looks yummy. I don't live in an area where garlic grows wild. No wildflowers, either. But there were some lovely photos of them you shared.
Thank you. Not sure if you are in the UK but Quorn is the tradename for a lot of veggie products, ready meals, its a fungi based protein and can be bought in fillets, mince and chunks as well as sliced ham type things :)
DeleteLovely work! Neat about the wild garlic.
ReplyDeleteThese are just beautiful. I love where you walked. Ohh the salad looks so good. Have a very nice day.
ReplyDeleteCant beat a nice salad, there is a lot of stuff in the woods we can eat as long as its well washed :)
DeleteI Love your paintings, especially on silk! Do you ever sell them?
ReplyDeleteI sold a few but dont any longer as I dont have the time to commit to it and materials have become very expensive. I might return to it when I retire if my hands are steady enough :)
DeleteWhat a pretty woodland view, and boy that salad looks delicious. Nice leaf prints too.
ReplyDeleteThanksk Erika I have been experimenting with wildflowers in my salads, dandelion are tasty too
DeleteYour art is exquisite, Betty! And the carpet of flowers in the woods is glorious. I've never eaten a dandelion. Maybe someday. Have a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteFor "unprepared", you managed an amazing post. Your paintings are beautiful and how brave to paint on silk. I love all of your nature pictures. When we lived on the lake we were surrounded with nature ... eatables and just beautiful flowers. We have since moved to a place where I have to travel to get outside civilization and I really miss it. When my dog was alive we would walk along the river and in some of the area forest preserves. There is nothing more peaceful and gratifying. Beautiful post Betty ... hope to see you here again :)
ReplyDeleteAndrea @ From the Sol
Lovely leaf prints. I like to see garlic growing in the wild.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrea, you don't seem "unprepared"!! ☺ Your ferns are beautiful! I have never painted on silk, what a lovely canvas. Oh nice that you found wild garlic! When I lived in Quebec, there was an area in the woods where there was a LOT of wild garlic...people used to covet it, they were really territorial though it belonged to the forest not them!!!
ReplyDeleteYour leaf paintings are fabulous, salad looks delicious, and the carpet of bluebells is something I long for to see in person.
ReplyDeleteYoko
I've never had wild garlic.
ReplyDeleteLove the leaf paintings. How beautiful!
Happy Tuesday, Betty!
It is so good to pick wild garlic to add in the salad.
ReplyDeletethis is such a delightful posting dear Betty ! i loved your leaves thoroughly :) you are amazing in this indeed ,yes ton silk it does magic for sure loved it so much .
ReplyDeletethe way you described your walk with your son in woods is so lovely ,thank you for the glimpse of natural glory you captured throughout the way ,i can only imagine how refreshing the environment was :)
your salad looks rich and healthy ,i never saw garlic growing outside randomly wow .
blessings to you and loved ones
Hello Betty chuck, beautiful watercolours! I always enjoy seeing your paintings. Your salad looks proper tasty. We have wild garlic nearby too and I had some delicious pesto that a friend made with it years ago, but I have never tried it myself (must add to the 'to do' list!). Valerian is a particular wild flower of mine. A happy springy Tuesday to you xXx
ReplyDelete