Another weekend and more Blossoms.

Stately trees of various types of cherry blossoms fill the hill, marching from the museum to the edge of the lake. This is a view from the north path of some majestic older trunks.

Petals softly cover the lawns, turning the ground pink, fascinating children and adults. Picnics in the breeze have a little extra flavoring from the falling petals. I love the look of dappled sunlight on the petals.

From the south path with a bit of the building's stone wall along the path.

Ancient Dancers in May 11x14 pastel

The Japanese Garden 11x14 pastel

Two Cherry Blossom weekends

Cherry Blossom Season lasts just a few days...or a few weeks depending on the weather. The first painting here shows a tree that flowers early, a week before the official festival event. Crisp cool days and light bright sun makes this 12”x4” gallery panel glow with the promise of colors to come.

A week later and the flowers are in full bloom. The classic facade of the building is even more beautiful framed by this branch in full bloom with even more buds to come. Visitors crowded the park taking family photos, boat rides on Mirror Lake, graduation pics and picnicking. Many Japanese families wore stunning traditional embroidered silk garments and elaborate headdresses for photos. It was misty and there were slight showers but no one was deterred. I had to stop when the oil paint was sliding on the wet panel.

Early Blossoms, 12x4 oil 

Cherry Blossoms in the Mist, 9x12 oil

Art on Oliver Street

'From the Farm Market' has been selected for reproduction as a large scale artwork. It will be displayed in the public art program "Art on Oliver Street", sponsored by Lumber City Development Corporation. In March I brought the original pastel to the Pencil On The River printshop to be photographed and enlarged for placement in a business window.

The work will be installed during May 2019 and a public reception will be held June 8 at Project 308 gallery. The gallery will display the original artwork there. The large reproductions of artwork selected for this exhibit will remain a minimum of six months. I am excited about the prospect of seeing this pastel painting greatly enlarged and on display.

Thomson's Market Vegetables 13x19 pastel

Packaging a painting for mailing

Allentown Infringement, oil on stretched canvas 24x30

This painting was discovered online by a resident of Louisville Kentucky and she contacted me to purchase it. Well, it’s pretty big and there are a lot of nightmare stories about packaging for shipping. 

First, I covered the back and face of the framed canvas painting with an archival sheet and a piece of strong cardboard. Angled cardboard corners held the parts together and they were wrapped tightly with yards of a strong plastic wrap. Next it was placed in a corrugated reinforced box, encased in a giant waterproof plastic bag and then slipped into another strong box with pieces of thick corrugated blocks and bubble wrap. 

Packing tape closed up the packaging and the address was written on the box underneath the postal label, in case the solid taping of the label should somehow be damaged. Sent two day delivery, signature required and insured, and another happy client has an original oil painting to grace their home. 

Some fading carnations preserved in oil

Before Valentines Day, and for my birthday I bought a bouquet of pink carnations and split the bundle among several vases. As they dried and died I removed the faded flowers. Two weeks later I was down to this last little bunch and the realization that I could paint them on a particularly tall canvas. Not every flower made it onto canvas and I didn’t have a title so I went back to my Facebook friends for suggestions. My titles are usually fairly practical and descriptive. Sometimes the title is meaningful only to me yet the observer could interpret it another way.

Connie Garver won by counting the flowers and the buds. And my birthday is the 13th so her title  achieved a double meaning.

"13 Carnations" 12x4 oil”