Last week I was asked to be one of the artists in a studio tour to be held in July and sponsored by the Parkside Arts Council. I’ve wanted to do one of these things for a long time, but there’s never been one in our area. After getting the okay from my husband (because my studio is in our home) I agreed to do it. I’m very excited about this although it will mean a lot of work and preparation: paintings and drawings to finish, mat and frame and new works to begin and hopefully finish. My display walls and other display equipment will augment our meager wall space for hanging prints and originals, but I’m wondering how much sprucing up of the house I need to do. The walls need painting, and the carpet needs replacing, but those things may have to wait.
It’s summer after all, and that means busy times ahead. Horse Shows By The Bay will take up all of July, and there are plenty of gardening chores to be done yet. And, I don’t intend to miss many trail ride opportunities this summer and sketching sessions at the barn. Plein air painting sessions are also on the summer agenda even if that means not venturing any farther than our yard.
To begin the summer, we celebrated the Memorial Day weekend at home with good food and the company of our two grown “kids”. I was able to talk my husband into cleaning out the old garage but not able to talk him into getting rid of much of anything, but at least it’s now cleaner and better organized than it was.
This morning I spent a couple of hours tackling the weeds in the flower beds and got a great deal done. I was sad to learn of the demise of my lovely delphinium, but the shasta daisies and foxglove are doing well. I must get more foxglove. At least the deer don’t bother them. Now that it’s June 1st, it’s safe to put in the annuals and that means a trip to the nursery to buy the plants. I also have three salvia to get in the ground, and who knows what else I’ll bring home from the nursery? Everything is so tempting but hard on the budget!
I’ve been thrilled to see that there are dozens of lilac shoots coming up from the ground where we had to cut down the old lilac bushes after the drunk driver went through our fence last summer. I’m going to put some small fences around a few of them so that they don’t get accidentally mowed down. They are the old fashioned dark purple lilacs that are hard to find anymore. My friend and neighbor will come and dig up some of the other ones and give them good homes.
On my agenda for today is an inventory of artwork for the studio tour to see what needs to be finished and what needs to be framed or matted. This is just the shove I need to finally finish Easy Rider and maybe even do the pony and child painting that’s been waiting to be put to canvas for the past several years. Most important, I will tackle melting the beeswax and combining it with turpentine for the medium my mentor wants me to use on the still life. That could be tricky!
Later on will be a trail ride with the girls. Ta Ta for now! The busy summer has begun!
PS I forgot to mention that one of my poppies bloomed for the first time this year! Last year it had a bud but the deer got it. You can see the bloom above.
2 comments:
That white horse in the pasture would make a fine painting!
That's just what I think, Judy. She's a Hanoverian.
Post a Comment