Welcome to my garden this beautiful May morning. It reminds me of such a day many years ago when I visited Beatrice Potter’s home and garden in the lakeside district of England. Here was a place I instantly adored and wished I could replicate. Beatrice is known and beloved by many through the generations of time. I can remember reading her fascinating stories of the little creatures who lived in her cottage garden and the outstanding pictures of animals she would draw to illustrate her books. Could I possibly ever have an English cottage garden like hers? I think I do!
I even have the little animals that she had in her famous garden. As I sit with my cup of coffee planning to bring my paints outside and start to explore the possibility of a painting of the flowers surrounding me; the rabbits, raccoons, chipmunks and squirrels are busy munching away on my flowers and bulbs. Flowers are a symbol of love and life. It is an ultimate pleasure for an artist to paint them. All through the ages, their freshness and vigor have given artists a constant and compelling source of inspiration. Painting flowers is a journey of exploration traveled by some of the greatest painters in the history of art. The palette can be brilliant and bold, sensuous and soft or infinitely gentle. Painting some say is a visual language. If one is willing to let your heart and soul and not just your hand control your brush, it will add a whole new emotional dimension to your work.
Art’s a staple. Like bread or wine or a warm coat in winter.
Those who think of it as a luxury have only a fragment of a mind.
Man’s spirit grows hungry for art in the same way his stomach growls for food.
Irving Stone
We will be blessed hopefully with many summer days to come when we are going to want to come out and paint in the garden amid the flowers and little animals who live here. Do not forget the big annual art and crafts fair which is held the last of May in front of the beach in the town of Lake Lure. It has become one of the major shows in North Carolina and is so worthwhile. You should not miss it.
It is blue-butterfly day here in spring,
And with these sky-flakes down in flurry on flurry
There is more unmixed color on the wing
Than flowers will show for days unless they hurry.
Robert Frost
The Lake Lure Artists are looking forward to a busy summer of activity and welcome the interest of anyone in our area. Our meetings are held at the Church of the Transfiguration in Bat Cave on the second and fourth Thursday of the month at 9:30 in the morning unless something special has been arranged.
