It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood ...and off I go, camera in hand, to capture new images to use for my next series of floral watercolors. A few weeks ago I discovered deep maroon and pale peach irises in a neighbor’s yard. After snapping several frames in the bright sunlight, my neighbor came onto his deck, coffee in hand, to investigate. A great way to meet the neighbors and begin a dialogue ...just walk in their yards and start clicking away!!

Today is perfect for capturing just emerging gladioli...soft pinks, bright oranges, even a few purples fill the camera’s view finder. I love the tall “standing-at-attention” aura they create in a garden otherwise full of shorter less ‘commanding my attention’ blossoms. Daisies and black-eyed susans are replete and offer up their faces for inclusion in my reference album.

Now it’s back to the studio to choose, crop and edit the references for this week’s flower of the season. Stop back to view the progress I’m making.

“When I go out into the countryside and see the sun and the green and everything flowering, I say to myself, “Yes, indeed, all that belongs to me.” ...Henri Rousseau