My Sunny Meadow Painting

Un prato soleggiato - a meadow basking in the hot Italian sun, as seen from the shade of an olive grove - is the subject for my third art class painting, and which is complete except for an isolation layer and varnish to protect the paint. The colours are a little warmer than this photo shows but it is proving impossible to achieve the correct shade through digital adjustment with what I have available to me. I must try again when it is a dry, sunny day. I learned a lot about achieving and working with texture and colour in this painting, and layering by cutting in to gain a sense of depth. It looks well on the rich blue wall of my dining room.

So, no class until October - woe is me! Hopefully by then I will have a new hip joint as I am awaiting the date for a joint replacement operation and will know when I go to the hospital this Thursday. I need to be able to manage quite a lot of stairs to reach the studio where the class is held, though. Meanwhile, I am contemplating a "portrait" of my husband and myself - I ought to prep a board in readiness for this. And make a couple of cotton nighties in preparation for my trip to hospital.

Roses

June in an English garden means roses (scented ones, of course!) to me, so I wandered around taking portraits of some of the lovelies brightening up my world.

Such delicate colours in their luscious silky petals, pretty as a picture and fragrancing the air as well.

Clearly, I have a preference for the peaches and pale pinks, although I have some beauties in other shades as well, just that these ones were the ones revealing their beauty on this occasion.

When we married, my bouquet contained the palest, barely-there apricot creamy petalled-roses, so some of these are chosen for sentimental reasons.

There are pretty, shaded frills and complex ruffles with a very special elegance of form.

 

Some reveal their fringed and beaded centres, inviting in the bees and other insects to enjoy their nectar sweetness.

 

Others are more shy or coy, a spiral of tightly furled petals hiding, for the moment, their golden centres.

Some appear almost muddled in their layers, crimped edges wrapped in a complex, chaotic geometry.

 

Some are just voluptuous, rich and velvety pinkness.

 While most of my roses are shrubs, standards or bush, I do have a lovely rose climbing an archway. accompanied by trachelospermum jasminoides and a wisteria album.  I love how its flowers hang down to be admired.

These photos were taken at the beginning of June, a month ago.  Life got in the way of me posting them - but fortunately did not prevent me enjoying the flowers.