Creating gardens for pollinators and art

Fall is here with so many things to do.

My memories of Summer days spent digging in the dirt, planting seeds and watching my garden come to life are fading.  I loved all the bumblebees, swallowtails, pearl crescents, frittilaries, clearwing hummingbird moths, hummingbirds and wasps in varieties I hadn’t seen before tumble, crawl and fly around the garden.

A garden for pollinators, an artist and other wild visitors

A garden for pollinators, an artist and other wild visitors

Now my days are spent cutting back the Lobelia cardinalis flower stalks, finishing up the art that began in my sketchbook and cleaning up the studio and gardens for the Countryside Artisans Fall Studio Tour visitors.

I am enchanted by the seasonal changes, and love capturing some of it in my sketchbooks and then in that art hanging on the walls.

Hopefully all the many tasks associated with the upcoming Fall Studio Tour will still allow me to watch the Monarch Butterflies and other visitors to my garden.   Right now I am living in the moment, sunsets, fall color, and the good life as an artist in the agricultural reserve.

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New Art for Spring Studio Tour

Watercolor and Pastel

Watercolor and Pastel

Just finished this large watercolor/pastel piece for my spring studio tour, next Friday.  I love the color and feel of this art, it captures the experience of apple picking at an orchard.  Growing up in Missouri, we did this in Illinois at Eckerts Apple Orchard.  That is the experience I drew from when creating this art.

These days I don’t have to go far to find an apple or peach orchard.  I live in Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve, local orchards take me back to the days with my family at Eckerts Orchard.