My Wisteria has flowers….at last…Woohoo :-D

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Garden flowers, My Wisteria has flowers at last, Nature, Photography, Wisteria waiting

Captured against a typical northern England sky. ..(I even brightened and colour enhanced the picture, which seemingly did little to lift the depressing grey spirited day :-/) Still,  the first eagerly awaited flowers of my Wisteria, planted the best part of a decade ago!!!! Nature has it’s own set of plans…and my wishing along could change nothing…..

 

Tiny they may be…BUT, flowers nonetheless YAY!! After waiting for almost nine years since first planting the white flowering Wisteria, it’s the first sign I may have gorgeous long blooms next year and many more years to come……….

‘Poppy duo and Pincushion trio’ – Original 14” x 11” Oil Painting

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Crafty creation, Creative craft, Garden flowers, My garden flowers, Nature, Original art, Original Poppy oil painting, Painting from a photograph, Painting in oils, Photography, Poppies and pincushions, Poppy duo and Pincushion trio, Red poppy art, Still life

‘Poppy duo and pincushion trio’  an Original 14” x 11” Oil painting on canvas panel    
Having spent the last couple of days, moving from room to room around the house in order to ”get straight and tidy’ for the family invasion next week – I finally abandoned my mop and bucket and grabbed my paintbrushes for a rest! This little oil painting has been done with the attempt to soften the background almost as if it’s out of focus allowing the main poppies in the foreground to take their place centre stage. I wanted to try and see if I could imitate, somehow, what photographers do by fading out the background and focusing on the main image. To try and do this I have merely blended blobs of colour without any firm shapes graduating the shades back to give a hopefully somewhat diffused perspective and depth to the foliage. Overall it passed a quiet Saturday afternoon, and, I’m happy with the final look and feel of the little still life scene! I must say, my conservatory window ledge is starting to look very colourful as, the now five canvas boards, are lined up to dry  🙂

A Penchant for Poppies!  – Original 14” x 11” Oil Painting

”Poppies and their ‘buddies’ ” – Original Oil Painting of my garden flowers on 14” x 11” canvas panel

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Art, Art from photographs, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Beautiful red poppies, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Colourful creations, Crafty creations, Creative crafting, Garden flowers, Nature, Oils on canvas, Original, Original poppy art, Original poppy painting, Poppies and their buddies, Poppy oil painting, Still life poppies

Poppies and their ‘buddies’
Original Oil Painting on 14” x 11” canvas panel
A little still life of my garden poppies painted from a photograph 🙂

Another little oil painting inspired by beautiful garden flowers!

‘Dapple Shaded Poppies’ – Original Oil Painting on 14 x 11 inch canvas panel

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Art, Artist and crafter, Artistic moment, Arty, Carens canvas and craft My ETSY shop, Creating art from a photograph, Dapple Shaded Poppies oil on canvas, Finding inspiration, Garden flowers, My garden, Orange poppies, Original art, Original oil painting, Painting from photographs, Photography, Poppy oil painting, Wild poppies

‘Dapple Shaded Poppies’
It would seem my oil paints and brushes have finally had their dust blown off of them :-)! Two days ago, after clearing and cleaning, like a possessed mad woman, my fabric workspace was eventually reverted back into a painting studio. Rummaging around, I found a dozen oil canvas panels, earmarked for a project a while back, so, I thought instead of that, I would get my rusty painting arm going again on the little 14 x 11 inch boards.
Nature and my garden provided just the right inspiration…nestled right at the foot of our Holly tree! With a little help from the sun through the leaves, in the dappled shade, I captured the pretty scene on camera, four wild orange Poppies in amongst the holly leaves. 
Now I have to think what can go on the other eleven canvases ??? 😉

My garden poppies made the perfect reason, to get back to oil painting! I had a little request from Mrs. P’s grandson over at craftodessey to show my picture of orange poppies – as he has only ever seen the beautiful red ones – so here they are finished! A couple of weeks should see the oils dry out too, and then, I think it may be destined for My Etsy shop 😉 Better get back out into the garden and see what other treasures I can capture !

Patchwork garden!

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Bluebells, Colourful foliage, Flowering shrubs, Garden flowers, Holly flowers, My garden retreat, Nature, Patchwork garden colours, Rhododendrons, Wild flowers, Wild poppies, Workspace with a beautiful view

Okay, this probably only applies if you live in the UK, and are over a certain age (40 ish)- but, does any one remember, if you fit the above criteria, The Smash makes Mash adverts??? (please excuse my washing line prop bottom right – a roofing lath from my devoted dearest – he’s so generous with his thoughtful gifts – all splinters have now been removed, and over time gathered in my hands!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SAbJjktk7E
I took a wander down to the bottom of our back garden this evening with a mind of taking some pictures of how lovely the colours of the foliage and flowers look, when I got back inside and saw this shot on the computer screen, the Variegated Privet (the lime green plant in the centre) just reminded me of one of those little aliens!!! LOL Planted some 25 years ago, to fill a gap, it’s certainly done that…and then some!… it has now also taken on a whole new look 😉 Normally Dearest keeps it in check, though hidden behind, in the slit gap, is a nesting box, housing a new family of Blue Tits, so pruning will have to wait another week or so! Anyways, back to the post….. I have always thought that our garden is a mismatch, but beautiful patchwork of plants, this is the view I look out over every day from my conservatory workspace and May is one of the nicest months to see. The deciduous plants have now gotten almost all their new leaves, the larger shrubs, rhododendrons and Holly are starting to come into flower and the smell from the Lilac tree is quite overpowering on this still calm evening – beautiful!! 🙂

Tiptoeing to the side a bit… a bit more of a promising colourful corner. In the background under the Holly tree, is my lovingly built garden Stonehenge, not that you can see much of it at this time of year, when we let it go Nature’s way – Wild and Free – to do as it pleases, usually it becomes laden with wild poppies and ferns – The little standing stones are for some interest in the winter months! Whilst the Japanese flowering cherry, on the left, has gone through its best, and is getting new foliage, in the foreground a beautiful pink Aquilegia is growing through our little twisted Hazel, with the first of its blooms opening today!

With all those buds, to open still, it should look amazing!

Last, but not least, one of my favourite flowers – Bluebells and a random couple of whitebells too, normally found in wooded areas, but equally happy to flower in my little ‘enchanted shrub wood’ garden! 😀

Pretty pink pergola

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Beautiful day, Clematis, Garden flowers, Marvellous May, Nature

The sun was shining, the sky was amazing and the flowers were blooming! The flower at the back even looks like its trying to fly off into the perfect day 😉 Our ten year old clematis is putting on the best show of its life so far! A few more pictures of our pergola, made by Dearest some years ago, plus a couple of close ups too ….

clematis 16 may 15 – look I even got the hoe out – didn’t do anything with it mind you 😉 !!!

clematis in full bloom 16.5.15

….waiting my turn … clematis bud 16.5.15

Too nice to keep all to myself…  😉

Rarely, if at all ever, in our garden has there been such a flower filled beautiful day!

A glimpse into my garden

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Beauty, Forget-me-nots, Garden flowers, Magnificent May, Nature

Forget me not 16.5.15 – OH I WON’T, DON’T YOU WORRY!!
– This little chap used to reside on our dining room fireplace hearth, which is actually really a coping stone, reclaimed by my Dearest, when we renovated our back room originally, with a Stonehenge theme! Though we still have our massive mural of Stonehenge, it has now become a more cosy space, and so, my poor little men…have now become ‘garden friends’ instead! But, I do go out and visit them almost everyday.
Having been so busy, over the past week or so, I had overlooked what was happening outside!! The weather has been wonderful, but I have been beavering away creating little ”outfits” for my daughter’s sea grass baskets – which she wanted cladding both inside and out! She commissioned me (FREE of charge of course – after all she is my daughter!) to cover six large baskets she had bought. So off I went into a little quandary, and created a pattern – more about that another time..!
Anyways…back to my garden!

Another of my long (house) departed friends! He seems to be busy reading to the Hydrangea and the Rhododendron behind him!

A little patch of loveliness !

Can anyone else see ‘ TOM’ spelt out in the flowers??????? Amazing!

Sometimes we get so wound up in what we are doing we forget to look in our back yard! Nature is so busy being beautiful – and yet it doesn’t scream about it!! – It’s just there waiting to be quietly discovered!  A new voyage of discovery everyday – if you have time!!

‘Freedom’ by Caren Taylor

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Butterfly, Caren's creative canvas and craft, Forget-me-nots, Freedom, Garden flowers, Nature, Phlox, Photography, Poems, Poetry, Something different, Wild and free

‘Freedom’

‘FREEDOM‘ by Me

‘Don’t catch that butterfly – it’ll only die’

They told me – ‘Let it have a life, let it fly

Its time here is so very, very short

If trapped its beauty fades – then mort

So leave it to enjoy flying wild and free

Its fate not for us to control – just for us to see…’

Published in Daily Reflections 2002 – Triumph House Copyright Caren Taylor.

Photography is not my strong point, but I did capture the butterfly ‘almost in focus’ before it flew out of my garden!

Poppies – ‘Wild Poppies in My Garden’ – Watercolour Poppies

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Art, Artist, Artistic moment, Artsy, Arty, Garden flowers, Garden poppies in watercolour, Nature, Orange poppy, Original art, Original poppy painting, Original watercolour of poppies, Photographs, Poppies, Vibrant orange poppies in watercolour, Vibrant original poppies, Watercolour painted poppies, Wild flowers, Wild poppies in my garden painting, Wild poppies in watercolour

‘Wild Poppies in My Garden’

I photographed these vibrant orange poppies growing in my garden. Every year I look forward to their arrival as they burst into a flash of colour here and there, never knowing where they will have seeded from the year before. There is one very strong gardening rule, (Which My Husband has now learned – Don’t weed them out!) In the past I have waited with anticipation, camera on standby, watching the poppy buds swell, to find after a weekend of my husband gardening solo – They’re Gone!! Arrrgh!!!

Still Life – ‘Dewdrop on the Anemone’ – Pastel Still Life

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Anemone flowers in art, Arsty, Art, Artist, Artistic moment, Arty, Beautiful flowers, Candytuft flowers, Drawing from photographs, Garden flowers, Garden flowers in pastel drawing, light and shade, Nature, Original, Original art, Original drawing in pastel, Original Still Life, Pastel and dewdrops, Pastel anemone flowers, Pastel drawing, Pastel still life, Still life, Still life in pastel

‘Dewdrop on the Anemone’

In the corner of my gravelled garden, I had a little patch of anemone flowers nestling in with a bunch of stray Candy tuft, which I think I can thank the blackbirds for! The birds see no problem in rearranging my garden plant theme in the search for worms and the like.  Anyway, the whole reason for this pastel drawing was the tiny dew drops which seemed to be floating on the budding flower. They seemed to be defying gravity on the curved petal. After observing them I quickly went for my camera, thinking all the time “I bet they have rolled off. when I get Back!” But no, They were still there!! I took the shot, checked the image on my camera, looked back at the flower… and they were gone. They had waited just long enough to be captured for eternity!!!