I can't wait to paint the gardens!

 I previewed my first garden today and oh man, am I glad I chose it!

I heard that the owners did all of the work themselves.
I am so impressed.

The garden is full of poppy and larkspur,

two of my grandmother's prettiest flowers.

And the ones I most remember.

Above is a beautiful pond in the courtyard filled with fish.

A pretty scene.

Hanging flower baskets and birds on the wall.

 Oh my gosh,

Doesn't this look like something I would paint?

I could sit practically anywhere in their yard and find a spot to paint.

And they have a hammock!

I might have to take a midday snooze.

 Poppies and larkspur galore.

And bees.

And butterfllies.

And dragonflies.

 I'm not sure what the pinkish purple flowers are.

Can anyone tell me?

 My mind was just going crazy!!

 A nice sitting spot.

In the morning though.

It's supposed to be 93 degrees on Sunday.

 Roses intertwined with larkspur.

 Beautiful orange/red poppies

 A field of larkspur

 Sorry, I just can't stop posting them!

 Shasta daisies

 more poppies

 Coreopsis in the mix

 One of the pathways through the flowers

If all of the six gardens look like this one - WOW!

Moving on, I traveled around Corrales

and found these beautiful bachelor buttons

in my favorite yard.

 Beautiful shades of purples

 A gorgeous red/orange/yellow rose

 Okay, can you tell me if these are sweet peas?

I drove up to them near someone's outer fence and started

snapping away. I didn't notice the owner was right by the fence

and he said, "Hi" and I about jumped out of my skin.

I said "Oh, I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind, I'm taking photos

of your beautiful flowers.

He said that was fine and he didn't know what the flowers were either.

 On my way home, these cholla cactus blooms

were so pretty in the sunshine.

The last ditch before my house.

I have to say, I tired my self out today and

all I did was look at beauty - all day!

If you can make it to any of the gardens on Sunday,

please do so. You will come away inspired.

Even if you are not a painter.

And even if you are not a gardener.

There will be a show with all of the completed 
garden paintings by 12 plein air artists at
FRAME N ART in Corrales from Wednesday, June 8 - Saturday, June 11.
The Artists Reception is on Friday, June 10,
from 6:30 - 8pm.
Come and see the paintings and have some refreshments!

simple things

Hi all - 

I am not writing about art tonight.

I drove around town a couple of days ago for about an hour 

and took pictures of anything that struck my fancy.

I have been mentally kind of under the weather since January 

and I just needed some simple (and beautiful) things to life my spirits.

Flowers will do it every time.

I'm making them extra large because that's how I saw them.

 Pear cactus in my neighborhood

Even the spent blossoms are interesting.

 cholla cactus  

The yellow is the old stem that held the flower. 

a yard full on Coreopsis near the Rio Grande Nature Center

 beautiful hollyhocks near Old Town

and the metal mariachis - so cool!

If they don't put you in a good mood, then I don't know what does!

Back to art tomorrow...