Dawn and Dusk Flowers Again

                               Clematis 'Etoile Violette' close up.                                                                                 

It's that magical time of the year when my 'Dawn and Dusk combination of  clematis 'Etoile Violette' and climbing rose 'New Dawn' flower. Despite last spring's disaster when the rose was blown down off the porch pillar during a storm and had to be drastically pruned, it's still blooming very well. The clematis usually leads the way by a few days, with the rose following--the rose hasn't reached peak bloom yet, and yet, what a marvelous sight!

In the evening shadows, the clematis looks so different, almost as if it changed color. I rarely look at it from the porch, because that's the corner where my lime tree spends its summers, but it was worth the effort to squeeze in there to take this shot. I love the way the dwarf Colorado blue spruce looks against the flowers!

My other roses in the bed by the driveway are also putting on a nice display, though the one I planted last year, 'Mauvelous' didn't make it through the winter. With the deer constantly browsing this bed, I question the wisdom of replacing it with another rose. Perhaps it would be better to find some other plant that wouldn't be so appealing to deer. But I still dream of fragrant roses, so it's hard to decide at this point.

Shrub roses 'Petal Pushers' and red 'Simplicity' rose.

My garden is a source of inspiration for my art, so while the garden blooms, I sketch what strikes my fancy or piques my curiosity in my botanical journals. Here's a few pages of this spring's sketches.

The Asian lilies are starting to bloom too, but they aren't quite as spectacular as they will be next week-- I'll post about those next, stay tuned.

Reception at Ranazul

Elena with Terri and Rob Day at Ranazul

An opportunity suddenly came my way last December to show my work at a local upscale restaurant: Ranazul Bistro in nearby Fulton. Ranazul has a beautiful room, the Galeria, for displaying art.

They asked me if I could show my art for the month of January. Luckily, I had a good amount of framed work  from the Brookside show on hand, as well as other paintings from last year's plein air activities, so the show was hung on Jan. 8, and the following Sunday, Ranazul hosted a reception with tapas and champagne for my guests.

I was not expecting much of a turn-out considering the month--at this time of the year most folks are jaded from the Christmas holidays and ready to hibernate. I was surprised that a few friends we hadn't seen in a while turned up--Terri and Rob Day brought a lovely bouquet of flowers for me (Thank you, my dears!), and a number of other friends and family members too, eager to buy their favorite pieces. Herb came along and officiated as photographer. It was a very successful afternoon in all respects.

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Orchid study in graphite

Twigs N Leaves (revised), watercolor

Here are some more botanicals. The Dimensional Study 204 class started last Saturday, and I've been practicing my sketching with an orchid that is about to bloom. I also added a few new elements to my Twigs N Leaves piece for the Painting 103 Class before submitting it for evaluation--I think the composition works better now.

Botanical Illustrations

In September I started taking classes at Brookside Gardens' School of Botanical Art and Illustration. The program offers an optional certificate upon completion of three years of study and submittal of a portfolio. The program was developed a few years ago by well-known botanical artist Margaret Saul, and the classes are usually held at McCrillis Gardens in Bethesda.

Since childhood, I've loved and admired plant and flower illustrations. My interest increased after my sister Silvia gave me a wonderful book about Margaret Mee, an amazing botanical artist who explored and painted the flora of the Amazon jungle. Recently, while I was hanging my show at the Brookside Gardens Visitors Center, I met the director of Brookside's adult education programs, and right then I decided to join the school and try my hand at botanical art. It's a rigorous study, as it requires a certain knowledge of botany and great precision of rendering as well as artistic ability.

They make everyone start with Drawing 101, regardless of how much experience one may have. I enrolled in the Saturday classes, which are two classes back-to-back and last all day. We're now doing Drawing 102, and here's a couple of practice sketches of leaves and sprigs from my homework.  Unfortunately, the pencil line drawings did not photograph very well, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. Can't wait until we get to work with color & shading.