Thursday, July 24, 2014

SUMMER IN SEQUIM WASHINGTON


 New Black and White piece. Thought I would show it just for fun.

I had some dental surgery today and even though it was raining outside yesterday and today, I was thinking how beautiful it is here in the summer. We have beautiful flowers blooming all over our yard. Our nice backdoor neighbor, Barbara, gave us some starts for some yellow daisies and they are really lovely, blooming by the back deck steps where Alan planted them.



I also love the broken rose "tree" that still gives us the most beautiful pink roses!! It is broken at one point and laying against the fence. Alan wanted to cut it down but it is still alive and flowers and he knows how much I love roses so it still stands. He cuts them and brings them in and we have them sitting on the living room table to enjoy at every meal.


Out in front are the usual Lavender and white Daisies. I absolutely love those daisies as they stand so tall and proud in front of the front deck. It is something I've never seen before moving here to Sequim.

There are many flowers growing in my backdoor neighbors yard (Barbara's yard). She is an avid gardener and her yard shows it. I especially love the poppies. When I was a child in Wisdom, Montana, my parents had an overgrown, unkempt yard, but there was a large patch of red poppies with black centers and I thought they were so beautiful. I still love them and hope we have some next summer in our own yard.


We have yet to get a deer fence up to keep the deer out of our back yard where they would eat anything we plant there because most of the summer has been spent with me in and out of doctor's offices, and Alan has been my caretaker. He keeps the lawn mowed and waters faithfully and I think the grass is even more beautiful this summer than last.


You know, most people who live in places like this, take these flowers and beautiful grass for granted. After living in Fairbanks, Alaska for over 25 years, it is all such a special thing to me to see these lovely flowers and shrubs and flower trees. One neighbor has a cherry tree, another neighbor has a pear tree. It is so great to see signs to "pick your own strawberries or raspberries" and other signs to get fresh veggies from local farmers. We really have come to a wonderful place to live and I'm more and more thankful for it each day I live here.


Much of my drawings have some sort of flowers in them. I have also started using wall board paste as a new medium and when it dries I can paint on it with watercolors or acrylics. I have done a couple of pieces that look like gardens to me with this medium and I'm really having fun with it. I think I'm more mindful of incorporating flowers into my projects because of where I live.


I hope that where ever you live and where ever you go, that you will notice the trees, the flowers, and how they are different where ever you go. One of the things I love about Washington state is that there are so many different trees.


 The next project we have is to put an old, unrepairable kayak out on the front lawn, fill it with dirt, and plant succulents and a few "deer proof" flowers and shrubs and put a couple of new trees in. It should be a lot of fun and I'll be sure and put a photo of this project on my blog when we get it done.



The Flower Garden
This piece is done with the wall paste on layers of fabric and paper.

 The Butterflies
This piece is also done with wall 
paste on canvas.


Thank you for reading, and I'll try to write a bit more now that I'm beginning to feel better.

Janie