Archive
Fresh peas – a painting a day
size 6 in x 8 in 15cm x 19cm watercolour on heavy weight rag paper Fabriano
I really am quite surprised with myself, one hundred little paintings today, I should be celebrating but as I haven’t finished my picture yet and it’s really late I doubt I will. To put the icing on it a picture sold today, the tiny red poppy one. I do like it so I will send it on its way a little sadly. At least with modern technology everything is photographed and I have a record; in the distant past I once walked into a person’s house, admired a picture only to be told it was one of mine! I had forgotten all about once it left my care (Yes it was deeply embarrassing, in fact my stomach is curdling now thinking about it).
I picked the last of the currants today with help from No2 son, just over twelve ounces. While I was on the allotment I begged these lovely fresh peas from a neighbours plot. The tendrils are perfect. I put some plants in, late of course, but then theres a chance of rain so they might hack it.
It seems like there has been some rain today- until the rain gauge is checked and that shows we have been lightly sprinkled with water droplets- not rained on at all. The soil tells the same story, it’s rock hard.
I think my wash will be dry now, so I will finish there for the night.
#100 a painting a day by Alison Warner on her lemon a day art blog
Black cherries – a painting a day
size 4.5 in x 7.5 in 11cm x 19cm watercolour on heavy weight rag paper
I don’t really know yet if the black cherries are a goer. They started out well, all to plan, nice and subtle in the background and then I kept going when I should have stopped and waited for things to dry out a bit. Loose painting is good until it gets so loose it falls apart.
The cherries came from the market stall in the next town .I went there after driving past the sixth form college with No.1 son and dropping him off round a corner where no-one would see me . It was a taster day when they were to do simulated A level lessons. He was clearly not looking forward to the whole thing as he was distinctly ratty.
So I did some food shopping, came home, made a nice lunch, dragged the umbrella back round to the table and opened a bottle with some allotment friends. This was looking good until I went back to lock the front door and there was No1 son back home in a foul mood…still don’t know why.
We mended the big swimming pool later; the last summer it was out a visitor poked holes in it with one of the cleaning tools. They weren’t caught red handed so it was impossible to do anything about it but I really felt for the kids who had clubbed together and spent a lot of their own money on the pool. I will be more vigilant in the future and make sure no-one gets a chance to be so destructive again.
We got one pound four ounces of strawberries in total early and late…the end is in sight. However there are currants and blueberries to come.
#89 a painting a day by Alison Warner on her lemon a day art blog
The Art Nouveau Allium – a painting a day
size 6 in x7 in 15cm x 17.5cm pencil on cartridge paper
So today I had some old friends to visit, they had had a hot journey and so we all sat in the shade and had some cooling drinks, a bit of lunch and so on. We went round the garden and I explained what we had done to the house in the big building project from which we are emerging. It made a real change to spend time in the garden looking at it and enjoying the bird song…well thrush song mainly. There is a thrush who has a very distinctive song and he is trotting it out over and over from several different perches very loudly. I have begun to wonder if he has lost his mate as I did find quite a few thrush feathers in the back a few days ago. They have reared one brood already so I would have expected them to be busy with the next brood like the blackbirds by the front door.
No1 son had his last GCSE and all he has to do now is find a lost library book and find his Geography teacher to hand back the textbook. This is such a relief for me but the joy has not made it to his facial muscles yet.
We picked four pounds five ounces of strawberries. This has never happened before the crop is phenomenal even the leaves are lush and tall. I think the thing that has made the difference is the black fabric weed suppressant, it must be drawing moisture up from underground, in the winter there is often standing water on the plot and the old chaps say there are springs there.
The redcurrants are ripening by the day too, closely followed by the blackcurrants.
At two days after the date to stop picking the asparagus the biggest and most tempting spears have emerged.
Today there is no painting but I have sketched the Allium bulgaricum which has been changing shape since I painted it. I am sure it must be the inspiration to an Art Nouveau motif that I have seen somewhere.
#83 a painting a day by Alison Warner on her lemon a day art blog
Red poppies – a painting a day
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lemonaday. size 6 in x 4.5 in 15cm x 12cm watercolour on heavy weight rag paper
So on Saturday/Sunday I started going down with the worst summer cold I remember having in recent years. Sleep has been almost impossible for two nights.
Yesterday Sussex was bisected by the London to Brighton cycle race, to cross on foot you had to walk past the pelican crossing (cyclists won’t stop for walkers) and find a junction where stewards would allow cars to cross the stream every now and then and run in the wake of a car to get across; my mother in-law says she thought she was going to get mown down by cyclists. At three thirty in the afternoon there were still hoards of them, some injured, some towing children and some with numbers nearly as high as 30,000,by six they had finally finished with Mid Sussex-at least southbound. By the evening you have to remember to avoid the roads coming out of Brighton as there are huge jams of vehicles trying to pack up bikes and riders for the journey home. The problem can stretch all the way to London.
I did a rather pale picture of some field poppies which he (husband) picked for me from the fields on top of Ditchling Beacon. The cyclists will have passed the field in extreme fatigue- if they made it up the Beacon, I hope they noticed the remaining poppies because, what is the point of a visit if you’re too tired to notice the good bits? I have done the poppies in a decorative style as there is such a tangle of them in the vase I couldn’t do it any other way.
I should have said, on Saturday there were over four pounds of strawberries and the same again today.
The blackbirds by the front door have hatched their second brood this blog, there have been young coal tits, chaffinches and thrushes in the garden. On Sunday I saw a nuthatch.
We went back to the Old Farmhouse,Rudgewick and heard some more wonderful music on Sunday. The progress in the garden is really remarkable since (hang on let me look back at the blog…day seventeen April 10th or thereabouts) Whole areas have been finished off with edging, planting and turf. The borders have filled out to magnificent effect in between the barn and the house.
#81 a painting a day by Alison Warner on her lemon a day art blog
Red currants and the purple asparagus – a painting a day
this painting is framed and for sale
size 6 in x 4.5 in 15cm x 12cm watercolour on heavy weight rag paper
The time today has flown by , but I had promised to do a picture with the purple asparagus so here it is. Tomorrow is the last day of the season.
#80 a painting a day by Alison Warner on her lemon a day art blog
Lemon a day 